Rewrite the History Books
by Snapers
Summary: Jaune felt pretty damn good about finally defeating Cinder, which might of been why he forgot she was a sore loser. In a blast of Maiden power, he's suddenly a decade in the past. No, the fact that Cinder and the White Fang are still alive and kicking doesn't worry him, he can handle them. He's worried about how he can watch 17 year old Jaune Arc and not strangle himself...
1. The History of Jaune Arc, a Foundling

**Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 **The History of Jaune Arc, a Foundling**

* * *

"Just trust me, Jaune," Ruby said without any confidence. "I'm sure it will be fine. We've lucked out so many times that it's pretty much proven that we have... I dunno, infinite luck?"

I couldn't help but sigh at Ruby's failed confidence boost. Even I, the all sunny and optimist Jaune Arc, felt some sort of fear when thinking about the future. She was just as scared as I was, if not more, at... well at whatever was going to happen to us.

"Because we definitely have luck." I couldn't stop the sarcasm from dripping into my tone.

Had we been lucky? If anything, luck was at the bare minimum when it came to being a Huntsman, the first and last line of defense against the seemingly impossible threat that met humanity.

Which, unfortunately, wasn't Grimm.

I actually considered myself pretty damn lucky when I was a kid. I somehow got into Beacon, got an amazing team, kept an average grade and actually made friends along the way.

After that was when the luck ran dry.

"Ruby," I started after noticing her tight expression, "We haven't won, but we haven't lost either. We could play this safe... we're not the only ones fighting."

Honestly, I was tired. This entire war was draining on the body and soul, it leeched away the life I used to dream about.

They say it started after Beacon burned, but I always argued it started long before that. That even if we managed to keep the legendary school standing that it would only delay her plans, that it would have only drawn us into a false sense of security.

Her, of course, was Cinder Fall—the crazy chick who decided that she wanted to be the... ultimate Maiden?

It didn't make sense... it was too ingenious of a plan for a guy like me to understand.

Take the power of the Maiden hiding under Beacon, then go on a crusade on finding and taking every other Maiden... and once she got all of their power? Who knew?

"Cinder's end game is to take the powers of all the Maidens, but there is still one more she doesn't have." I looked at her deeply as I explained the concept she probably heard a hundred times in the last day alone.

"You," I said like she didn't know already.

Ruby Rose, the Summer Maiden of almost a month, clenched her fists at the thought.

"But..." she started miserably, "but I'm so close to mastering this power! Give me a little longer and we can fight her together!"

"No." I felt uncannily like a parent as I shot her down.

"Jau-"

"No!" I growled out viciously, feeling bad as Ruby shrunk down. "This war has been on for ten years, and we've been in it since before day one. You don't have to fight anymore, Ruby. Let the rest of us do this for you."

"What about you?" she asked, still as caring at age 25 as she was at age 15. "Are you just going to stand against Cinder alone?"

I sighed.

"Ruby, I'm almost 28, but my body feels like it's forty. By the time we win all this, which we will, I'm either going to be dysfunctional or in a hole in the ground. And I'm not letting myself become a burden."

I was sure I wasn't as depressing and cynical ten years ago.

She gasped, stunned at my words.

"Jaune... how could you?"

I let my eyes avert from her—I couldn't stand to look her deep silver eyes.

"I've been through a lot," I admitted quietly. "You've sat by my hospital bed long enough to know that all those injuries add up."

"You're all I have," she said, losing her bearings at the thought of my death. "I lost everything, we lost everything... but we still have each other."

Was it love? I didn't know. Spending ten years with someone would inevitably bring them closer, and ten years on the battlefield only made it more prominent. It wasn't a match made in heaven... it was a match made among ashes and blood.

My dad would always give me stupid advice with the ladies, and both he and my mother agreed that when I found the right person I would know. That the feeling that was 'love' could never be replicated.

Did I feel that feeling? I could hardly tell.

I had Ruby and Ruby had me... was it a lack of options? Or was it true soulmates?

Those thoughts were stupid, I thought, love wasn't a luxury that we had. The seventeen year old that was still in me screamed to not let it go—but it wasn't a blessing that we were allowed. Cinder already used all our other bonds to destroy us... it couldn't happen again.

Damn... I was jaded.

"Ruby, I'm gonna give you the plan," I said while throwing all morbid thoughts away. "You're gonna sit tight and wait while I muster whatever we have left and attack Cinder. We know she's been weak since we stopped her from taking the Summer Maidenhood, that's why she's so desperate to find you... she won't last long without getting the final piece of the puzzle."

She nodded, grudgingly accepting my words even though I knew she'd attempt to break them.

"You know what?" I said in an attempt to cheer her up. "If we get her on the ropes, and only if she's on the brink of death, I'll give you a call and you can come deliver the final blow yourself."

"And if we don't?" she asked timidly.

I stared deep into her eyes. The figure looking back at me through the mirrors of silver wasn't the man I wanted it to be. It was _almost_ everything I dreamed about being as a kid—I was a leader, a strong fighter, a hero and a man people could rely on.

But it wasn't a happy man that looked back at me.

Ruby stepped forwards and got close to me, as she always did whenever something uncomfortable came up. I was pretty much the only person she had in this world, as her to me.

And I would do anything to keep her alive.

"Ruby, if we can't beat Cinder, you can outlast her. Do what you do best... run."

* * *

It was snowing in Atlas, the first place Cinder had conquered. It was an easy mentality—we had to hide Ruby, so what better place than where we _shouldn't_ be? A place that nobody expected...

Cinder came after almost an hour, her with a group of radicals against me and the small resistance of people who still believed in freedom.

My army wasn't much. There were a few Huntsman, some soldiers, and a small amount of Faunus that hadn't contracted the plague and still fought against Cinder. The size difference could be ignored since I knew full well Cinder didn't train her army like I trained mine.

Cinder's army was built from fear. I could help but notice some familiar faces among the crowd of people that had simply given up—people that decided that if they couldn't beat Cinder, why not join her?

Her army had no true loyalty, that was why my group was better. Only the weak chose to give up... Cinder's army was filled with cowards. The people who were strong either died fighting what they believed in or are still fighting.

"You ready Jaune?" Cardin Winchester, my right hand man, spoke. Times had changed from a decade ago, the same Cardin that used to bully me was now my most loyal man. He stood by me almost as close as Ruby did, despite multiple offers from Cinder to join her.

Even as his own team abandoned him, he still chose the path of a hero.

I gave him no response as I kept my eyes on Cinder, who kept her eyes on me. Her smirk made me want to scream in anger.

How was she always so confident? So perfect?

"Jaune!" she called from across at least a hundred meters away—her sultry tone carried perfectly fine despite the distance.

"Cinder," I said coldly, my carefree attitude gone. "What a coincidence."

She laughed, an enticing sound that made me want to vomit.

"Some of my spies informed me that you were mobilizing for a final attack," she said almost triumphantly. "They were right!"

I could feel Cardin's anger rise at the talk of spies. Cinder was the only one with the cure for the Faunus only disease she created, it wasn't hard to realize that she would have the support of the hybrids. I knew some of the Faunus I commanded were a bit _too_ loyal... but I didn't want to believe...

I didn't let her words visibly bother me. The first two years of the war was the government trying to deny it was happening, and dealing with all the politicians taught me to never let the enemy know they have the advantage.

"You didn't leave anyone at home," I commented. "I see so many people that will betray you just like they betrayed me."

"Sounding bitter, Commander Arc?" Cinder asked in amusement. "You're reminding me of Ironwood, remember that guy?"

I almost lost my temper. "I was there when he died."

"You were, weren't you?" she said humorlessly—like she didn't know. "Oh yeah! It was just the two of you... six years ago, right? I only had two Maidens back then and I still beat both you _and_ Ironwood!"

"You say that like beating an old man and a kid is something to brag about."

She knew she was hitting every nerve I had.

"If that's not impressive, how about when I killed all your friends? The monkey boy's team, the fashionista's, the 'WBY' of RWBY... the list keeps going on! And let's not forget about the hammer girl and the quiet boy! They were pretty recent..."

"You know their names," I said lowly.

"So what? Do I honestly need to know Ren and Nora?" she asked nonchalantly.

"They are the only reason you don't have all four Maidens!" I shot back, starting to feel control come back to me. "You seemed pretty angry when they held you off long enough for Ruby to become a Maiden _and_ escape! I could hear your scream of fury from a mile away!"

Cinder's eyebrow twitched slightly at the memory, almost making me smirk.

"Where is little Red anyways?" she asked absently, like she didn't care that much. "Everybody else in your army is here except her."

"Why do you need Ruby?" I asked, looking amused. "Are you in a hurry, perhaps? Is it possible that you want a last conversation with her before you die because you're incomplete?"

She glared at me, which only made me laugh despite the growing winds and temperature.

"Where is she?" Cinder growled.

I drew Crocea Mors, the blade still shining despite all the years of battle.

"She is at the end of my blade," I said as I pointed it towards her. "I can give you a closer look, if you want..."

She fired a giant fireball towards me.

Cardin yelled for the army to advance as I jumped to face the fire head on.

I could take the heat.

...Yang would have been proud of that one.

* * *

"Duck!"

I instantly registered Cardin's voice and brought my body towards the ground. Cardin swung his mace over me and hit Cinder, creating a massive explosion as it collided that sent the Maiden flying.

The fire of the explosion did little to hurt her, but the shock wave must have done something internally.

As she used the winds to steady herself, I looked at Cardin's bloody form.

"Status!" I barked, knowing we didn't have long.

"Our sabotage worked. Their Dust is completely ineffective—they can't use any of their weapons." Cardin's grip on his weapon tightened. "It's nice to know Blake and Weiss didn't die for nothing."

I nodded, barely thinking about his words as I didn't want sadness to impede me. Cinder landed and watched us from afar, she was only panting slightly—and I a bit more.

"What about your team?" I asked.

There was silence for a moment.

"They aren't my team anymore," he spoke tightly. "And I dealt with them."

Cardin was the bane of my existence a decade ago—he was the sole source of sadness for a teenage Jaune Arc. But his loyalty, the good man that he decided to show me, filled me with confidence... with a warmness that pooled in my chest.

I had people I could depend on, what did Cinder have?

My Semblance activated and power rushed through me as I leveled a glare with Cinder. Cardin stayed a few feet behind me as Crocea Mors glowed with power.

"Cardin, leave."

"But-"

"Leave. I got this."

I didn't have anything, actually.

Well... except for a few stupid plans and a death wish.

* * *

I raised my shield and held firm as lightning struck from above. I could smell paint denoting the symbol of my family burn off as I kept my shield up and ran towards Cinder—lighting striking me from above with every step I took.

I had her on the defensive. Somehow, I managed to catch her slipping.

She needed to absorb Ruby now. No wonder she mobilized her army so quickly... she didn't have the time to plan anything more than a head to head battle.

She tried to blow a torrent of wind at me, but it turned out to be nothing more than a small gust. She frowned and barely managed to duck underneath a broad slash of my weapon.

I tilted my shield and blocked a kick, feeling my shoulder joint shudder at how hard the blow was. I took a step back and brought by sword upwards in her direction.

Cinder somehow managed to tilt herself so Crocea Mors passed her by millimeters before she span around to my side and fired a stream of fire at me. I gritted my teeth as my sword arm burned, but I stayed focus and lunged towards her.

My shoulder crashed into her smaller abdomen, making her tumble to the ground.

I approached her downed body. Crocea Mors brimmed with power as I raised it in the air...

She let out a stream of ice, freezing my feet together.

I fell forwards, my balance lost, but I tilted my body so I at least fell on top of her. Cinder's breath escaped her as a little less than 200 pounds of Arc crushed her.

An attack was an attack, no matter how unorthodox.

I smashed the flat of my blade against the ice around my feet. It shattered and I rolled away to narrowly avoid a lightening bolt from striking me.

It was so much easier to deal with those things with Nora...

I tried to stand up but I was kicked in the chin. My sword left my grip as my body flew onto the ground back first. I groaned as standing up seemed like an impossible task.

"Close," she said, amused at my struggling. "You got a lot better, Jaune. You should have joined me when you had a chance."

Her taunting gave me new energy as I rose my shield to block a fireball. The intense torrent sent embers flying past my face, filling my vision with a sickening orange.

Cinder kicked me in the arm, making my shield fly from my grasp and onto the ground a few feet away. I desperately looked around for Crocea Mors, but the reliable blade was even farther away than it's shield counterpart.

"You don't have talent, Arc," Cinder said as she stood above me. My hand slowly traveled behind my back as she looked around the battleground smiling.

"No talent whatsoever," she said again. "But you have dedication and an interesting Semblance that even I don't fully understand. You gave yourself potential... something I actually would have appreciated if it wasn't for your goals."

I fingered something behind my back, getting ready for the perfect moment.

Cinder walked over to the sword of Crocea Mors and picked it up, admiring the blade as she approached him.

"Such a simple weapon," she commented. "With such an amazing story. It seems like every person who has wielded this sword in war earned a rather bloody legend about them. I first heard about it was a story about your... great grandfather? Great great?"

She looked at me like I was expected to answer, but I just stared at her in silence.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I heard that this sword earned the title 'death' through some sort of magical power, that it was a blade destined to kill. It's interesting how when it was put into a benign environment like Beacon it somehow found itself in the middle of a war yet again."

She slowly felt the blade, savoring the sharpness.

"War is where this weapon truly prospers, it needs a wielder who will soak it in blood." She smiled wickedly, "And you know you've been doing just that, Jaune."

She leveled my own sword towards my face.

"I might just use this weapon myself," she said. "It will be a good memento of a thorn I took out of my side."

In an instant I pulled out StormFlower and shot an entire clip of the pistol into her. Cinder barely managed to bring up a wall of fire to block the shots as I jumped onto my feet and pulled out Ironwood's revolver.

She forgot about my two ranged weapons... such arrogance.

I would only stop fighting when I was dead.

I fired a shot of the General's prized gun, it ripped through Cinder's Aura and dug into her arm. It was a horrible miss, given that I was aiming for her head.

Cinder fired a massive fireball at me. I channeled my Aura into StormFlower and slashed the blade extension of the gun downwards—a crescent of energy flew out and sliced the fireball in half, making hit on either side of me.

Rolling out of the way of a lightening bolt, I fired four more bullets out of Ironwood's revolver. The bullets were so powerful that none of Cinder's defenses could protect her—my bullets slammed into her torso with meaty sounds.

Cinder Fall clutched her bleeding stomach and stumbled slightly. I rushed forwards and slammed the barrel of StormFlower into her forehead.

Not even death could stop Ren from saving my ass.

I had one more bullet in my revolver, I placed it right against Cinder's head and-

Suddenly lightening struck down from above onto me, my Aura did little as my smoking body fell to the floor.

I laid on the ground—my body twitching slightly. I let out a pained moan as I struggled to gain control of my body.

"You're were gonna die quickly," Cinder hissed, enraged. Blood fell from a cut on her forehead and covered half of her face—finally making that perfect look of hers vanish. "But now I am going to make you hur-"

Suddenly Cinder gasped as a giant metal claw protruded out of her chest.

"I got you!" Ruby yelled as she pulled Crescent Rose out of Cinder. "You think you're so high and mighty!? That because you steal other people's power you're strong!?"

That was... unexpected.

I panted as the sound of the battlefield started to die down—either the battle was ending or I was so concentrated on Cinder that everything else was tuned out.

Ruby quickly appeared by my side and helped me to my feet.

"Thanks Red," I let out quietly as I caught my breath.

"So you'll forgive me for disobeying your orders?" she asked in faux fear as she held my arm.

I smirked. "I kinda expected you to break them to begin with. That's sort of your thing."

"Hey!"

I shrugged Ruby off and walked towards Cinder on my own two feet.

"How does it feel, Cinder?" I asked to her bleeding form. "How in the world did you lose to Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose? Easily the two least qualified to enter Beacon."

"I didn't lose!" she cried in anger as her powers fluctuate. "I am a Queen!"

"You're nothing but crazy!" Ruby yelled back. "A spoiled child who thinks the world belongs to her!"

She let out an enraged yell as she tried to smite them, but nothing happened.

"Can't control you powers," I taunted, feeling the euphoria of winning. "Looks like you were too ambitious, a single person can't be all four Maidens."

"Watch me!" she growled as her eyes started to glow.

Light suddenly started to erupt from every inch of her body.

What was happening?

Cinder never did... whatever she was doing before. And she didn't absorb any Maidens, so she didn't gain any new powers.

"Ruby..." I started as wind started to swirl around us unnaturally.

I looked to my side and noticed Ruby barely standing, her eyes glowing also.

I tried to grab Ruby, only to moan in pain as I moved my right arm. Cinder had burned it a lot worse than I thought...

"Cardin!" I yelled as loud as I could, knowing bad things were about to happen. "Cardin quickly!"

There was silence, and I feared for the worst.

Luckily, Cardin was always reliable. I could here his heavy footsteps as he approached them.

"What the hell is happening!?" he yelled as thunder boomed above. "What did Cinder do!?"

"It doesn't matter!" I yelled back. "My arm is toast, literally! I need you to take Ruby and get her as far away as possible! Whatever Cinder is doing is involving her Maidenhood!"

Cardin nodded urgently and picked up Ruby, we both turned around and started to run away.

But a hand grabbed me by the ankle, making me trip and fall into the ground.

"Shit!" I yelled as Cinder help my leg in a vice grip.

"Jaune!"

"Go!" I yelled to Cardin. Cinder could be draining Ruby of her Maiden powers as we spoke, I couldn't allow that to happen.

"Good luck!" was the last thing Cardin said as he ran away with Ruby in his arms.

I tried to kick Cinder's arm off my foot, but nothing was working.

"Cinder!" I yelled, but she was unresponsive as the lightning bigger than I have ever seen struck by us.

Cinder could not summon lightening that big, I knew that. Whatever was happening wasn't her doing.

Or rather, her voluntary doing.

She had lost control of her powers... a single human being wasn't designed to handle so much power.

I looked to my right and saw somehow Crocea Mors laying next to me. I grabbed the sword and approached Cinder, resolved to stop her before something horrible happened.

It was a rather simple death for a rather flashy person—there was nothing overly dramatic as I stabbed her in the chest.

She gasped in pain and the glowing suddenly stopped.

That was easy...

"Haha! Take that you evil bit-"

The world exploded.

* * *

The first thing that notified me that I was alive was pain.

My eyes snapped open as my right arm ached in agony. I winced as sunlight flooded my eyes and took a few seconds to adjust to the bright light.

What was happening to my arm? It felt like it was on fir-

I glanced at the burns covering my right arm—no wonder it felt like it was on fire... it literally was.

I sat up and rubbed my head, looking around with a frown.

There was no massive battlefield filled with weapons and bodies, like usual, instead it was a forest with a radius of trees around me burned and singed. It was like I just walked into a forest and exploded.

"Cardin?" I called as I sat in the middle of woods. "Ruby?"

I was met with silence.

I definitely blew up with Cinder, that I knew, but how did I end up in a clearing? Was I launched into the distance after she... whatever happened to her?

There would be smoke in the sky, there always was after Cinder fought, yet I couldn't see any as I looked into the rather clear blue sky.

Everything felt so... tranquil. It felt nothing like the usual gloom that filled the air for years.

Crocea Mors laid next to me. The shield was in multiple pieces and the blade had thick cracks traveling all over it like spider webs. It was unusable. The legendary weapon that had led my ancestors to countless victories had finally met it's end.

And killing Cinder Fall was the best final act a weapon could commit.

I sat in silence, pondering about my weapon and my final battle with Cinder. Then, my hearing, through years of listening for both ambushes and traitors, easily identified the humming sound of a Bullhead in the distance.

It was most likely Cardin or Ruby, probably both. Cinder didn't have many loyalists, most of her army was ruled with fear, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be any stragglers that would fight to the death. The rest of my army were probably dealing with them first before recovering me.

I stared at the rather clean looking Bullhead in confusion.

What was with the symbol painted on the side of it?

Even though all of the armies worked together to deal with the threat that was Cinder Fall, they never made a joint army. It defeated the purpose since it was suppose to be a secret war, the public were told it was the White Fang for years.

None of the nations were ready to make a joint military, so they didn't.

Atlas was the first to fall. Cinder knew that if the biggest, most supplied nation, fell first then the others would follow pretty quickly.

There shouldn't be a pristine Bullhead with the Atlas emblem five years after it fell. Pretty much all of them were taken by Cinder, and she had her own sign etched onto them.

So why was there a perfectly fine Atlas Bullhead approaching me?

I looked at the broken form of Crocea Mors. It was possible that I would have to use it again, despite the condition it was in.

The Bullhead definitely saw me, because it hovered above me as people dropped down.

I stared in shock as authentic looking _Atlas_ soldiers dropped in front of me, all pointing standard issue _Atlas_ rifles at me.

And then a figure dropped down. It took all my years of dealing with politicians in denial to stop me from gasping.

Majestic white hair and blue eyes...

There was no way.

"Weiss?" I muttered, my voice barely a whisper.

Cold blue eyes snapped onto me.

"What did you say?" an absolute _frigid_ tone said to me.

Never mind. That wasn't Weiss.

It was Winter, Weiss' sister that died six years ago.

I watched as she died... I was the one who had to give the news to Weiss that I couldn't protect her sister from Cinder.

How was she in front of me?

Winter leveled her saber towards me.

"Identify yourself!" she commanded harshly.

"How do you not know me?" I asked, confused. We went on countless missions together when Ironwood took me under his wing, we were friends... even though she'd rather cut her own tongue than admit it.

She glared at me.

"He is being uncooperative! Seize him!"

I stared at her in confusion.

"What do you mean uncoopera-"

Something hit me in the head.

* * *

"Damn," I muttered as I rubbed the back of my head, glaring at a soldier. "You know, hitting a person in the back of the head generally doesn't knock them out. I don't care how convenient it sounds... it just doesn't happen."

The soldier at least looked somewhat bad about hitting me in the head with the butt end of his rifle.

"Be quiet," Winter growled to me, angry because... because she was Winter, and I was pretty sure she liked being angry.

"I thought you want me to speak," I said. "Wouldn't it be beneficial for the both of us? We both have questions that need answering, and I _really_ have to get a drink of water. My tongue feels like a piece of sandpaper... help me."

"Private, give him water," she said to the guy who hit me.

I couldn't hold the canteen because of the handcuffs they put on me—even though I didn't show any hostility—so he had to put the canteen to my lips himself. I ended up drinking the entire thing pretty quickly.

"More would be nice," I said to Winter as I licked my lips. "It would be very, _very_ appreciated."

"No. Not until you answer some questions."

"But you're not asking me questions right now!" I fought. "I'll answer everything to the best of my abilities for a big ass cheeseburger and a chocolate shake!"

Winter glared, and I sighed. I forgot how professional Winter was when she was in the field. I was judging her off Weiss, who was a lot more relaxed than her older sister.

There was no doubt that when I looked at Winter, I saw Weiss. For some strange reason, Winter looked _younger_ than Weiss did—there was no possible way she was in her mid thirties like she was suppose to be.

"Private, knock him out," she ordered, tired of my tongue.

I sighed, it was like we were never friends to begin with. It took almost six months to finally get Winter to warm up to me, and now she's back from the dead and doesn't remember any of it.

I had my theories, of course, but I was saving them until I arrived at my destination.

A hard object hit me in the back of the head, making me yelp loudly.

"Hey!" I yelled. "I literally _just_ said that hitting the back of the head isn't as effective as you think!"

It wasn't the soldier's fault they were hitting me, it was Winter's. I looked at her with my own interpretation of Ruby's trademark 'I am cute, love me' look.

If my look was anything like Ruby's, I would have melted Winter almost as much as Cinder did—I took a second to frown at that joke—but my look was nothing compared to the little reaper. Winter stared at me blandly, clearly unaffected.

"Keep hitting him until he's out," she commanded.

* * *

Confirmation that I wasn't in a strange heaven—or possible a twisted hell—came when we arrived at our destination. I knew exactly where we were, and I was waiting for _him_.

All of this shouldn't be possible.

But, for a person like Cinder Fall, making seemingly _impossible_ things _possible_ was well within her boundaries.

"Is this him, Specialist Schnee?"

Winter, who was standing straighter than... well straight, nodded professionally.

"Yes sir!" she called, making me look at her in amusement.

She never broke the trend of showing respect to authority—she lessened how much she addressed her superiors when _I_ became her superior, but she would always be proper.

And she would never be anything but pristine in front of Ironwood.

A very _alive_ General James Ironwood nodded slightly to Winter, making her relax. He stared at me with enough scrutiny that I couldn't help but draw similarities to a certain Headmaster of Vale.

Despite how much Ironwood and Ozpin insisted they were nothing alike—it was pretty obvious how similar they really were.

"Who are you?" Ironwood asked me with not a lot of tact. I tried to find a voice in my throat, but all I could find was a silent lump that just _sat_ there.

It wasn't a surprise I was like this, I thought, Ironwood saw _something_ in me and took me in. He trained me to become... well... _him_. If he didn't die as early as he did, I might have been a carbon copy of him—excluding the robot limbs.

He taught me to lead. He put me on a pedestal that nobody thought I could live up to.

General Arc at age twenty one? I was leading an army of men before my first drink—it was absolutely ludicrous.

Whatever he saw in me I would never know... but what I did know was that I owed him a lot.

And that he was one _paranoid_ son of a-

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. I must have been looking at him like a creep for a few minutes—which wasn't the best impression.

"Is cell 235 prepped?" he asked Winter, who was on her Scroll, she nodded after a few seconds.

I frowned. In Atlas, every cell that added up to ten were...

"Wait," I finally spoke, "Why are you going to interrogate me? I've done nothing to warrant that!"

It was a stupid concept, if the numbers of an Atlas cell added up to ten then it was for interrogation, but it was so out of the box that it was actually brilliant.

"You appeared in the middle of the woods in a massive explosion of fire and lightening. All we know about that blast is an unrecognizable charred body and you. Plus, I was informed that you are uncooperative and possibly hostile."

He was being rather blunt about the whole situations. Where most leaders—including Ozpin—kept secrets and had skeletons in their closets, Ironwood was a man who had his entire life out to the public. He didn't hide many things, whether it was his emotions or info on a sensitive situation.

That was why so many people liked him, he was a guy that could be trusted—despite his rather offensive methods.

"A charred body," I muttered quietly, resisting the urge to smirk.

It had to be Cinder.

Suddenly, I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"What do you mean 'uncooperative' and 'hostile'? I came with you quietly... I didn't attack your guys at all! Actually, Snow Angel over here kept hitting me in the head because I was trying to start a conversation! She didn't even ask me questions!"

Ironwood looked at his soldier.

"Specialist?"

She shrugged.

" _Winter_."

"Perhaps I was a bit... deceiving about whether or not he was a threat," she admitted as her eyes narrowed at me. "But my instinct tells me that something is not right about this man."

"Perhaps it was the explosion?" I supplied. "Or maybe, my devilish charms has caught you off guard? Are you trying to give me a hint, Winter?" I used her first name because I knew she _hated_ whenever I said it—at least for the first few months we knew each other.

In the future, of course. Because I was almost 85 percent certain I was in the past.

The Ironwood I was looking at still had black hair, the one I knew was almost full gray by the time he died. And it wasn't tough to notice that a few of the scars Winter had were suddenly gone either.

Plus Atlas was still standing, there were no giant statues of Cinder everywhere.

Yeah... she actually did that.

Winter glared at me so hard I thought she was going to make me spontaneously combust.

Cinder did that to me once, it's not as effective as one would think.

"I say we throw him in a cell," she suggested. "He won't take a normal questioning seriously, we need different methods."

I knew exactly what 'different' meant, and I didn't like how Ironwood was actually thinking about Winter's idea.

"I'm from Vale!" I quickly spoke.

If I was a citizen of Vale, there would be a lot of uproar if a foreign government snatched me up and interrogated me.

Ironwood spoke quietly to some soldiers. If I really wanted to hear them I probably could, but I was spending my time looking around at a world _without_ Cinder's influence.

Damn... ten years was a long time, I realized. Had I actually forgotten about how the world used to be?

* * *

I was led over to a medical room by a rather large squad.

There, a nurse was already waiting—Ironwood hated wasting time.

"Take blood," he ordered the nurse, who nodded and pulled out a syringe.

Two soldiers held my arms as she spotted a rather conveniently hole in my tattered sleeve and tried to poke me in my shield arm with the needle.

It broke as it made contact—my skin was perfectly fine.

"What?" the nurse said, confused.

"There's something up with that arm," Ironwood said. "My guess is that he's using his Aura... am I right?"

I thought for a second, and _only_ a second.

"Yes," I agreed quietly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not suppose to be around," I said. Keeping it open to interpretation opened a lot of doors... a lot of excuses.

Ironwood looked at the nurse, who silently opened a drawer and pulled out the _biggest fucking needle_ I had ever seen in my life.

I was almost two hundred percent certain that it wasn't even legal to perform medicine with such a big tool.

"This will pierce through your Aura nicely," she explained, sounding almost _excited_ about using that... that thing.

I blamed the entire situation on Cinder.

* * *

"You weren't lying about being from Vale," Ironwood said as he scrolled through his Scroll. "At least, most Arc's are from Vale, so it checks out."

Good, I thought from the confines of the cell I was in, because I really needed information.

Honestly, I had no idea _how_ far back in time I was in.

Well, if this was time travel. It was only a hypothesis that I was back in time—I could be comatose in a hospital right now, dreaming of this while Ruby worried about me...

But I _hoped_ I was actually in the past... that this wasn't some sick illusion that a supernatural being was using to mess with me.

Cinder could never do anything like break reality. Maybe she picked something up from Neo and had put me in a complex illusion?

But the soreness in my sword arm killed a lot of those theories. A good punch in the face could snap a person out of an illusion—hell, one time I stubbed my _toe_ against Neo and it brought me out of her trickery—the needle was _too_ painful for it to not drop me back into reality.

"You're blood is uncannily like a teenage boy named 'Jaune Arc', a son of two prominent hunters who I just called. They both confirmed that he's eating breakfast and getting ready for school, so that leaves a lot of questions."

How the hell did Ironwood asked my parents about me without having to explain the entire situation? My mom was just as scary as she was protective, she wouldn't take lightly to a General asking about her son.

But, who was I to think that Ironwood _didn't_ explain? He was a good speaker, but not _that_ good.

That was some Ozpin level shit.

It suddenly hit me that I was _eating breakfast_ back at my _home_. Did that mean that there was the original, younger, Jaune Arc back in Vale? I mean, I knew that there was because Ironwood just said, but really?

Could I, future Jaune Arc, meet past Jaune Arc?

Or was he the present Jaune Arc?

If the other me was at my parent's home and getting ready for school, that meant I wasn't in Beacon yet. So I was possibly eleven to twelve years in the past.

 _If_ this wasn't a sickening nightmare. Because it was just too convenient that I somehow wake up before the war even started.

"Yes," I said slowly, making up my story as I spoke. "I am an Arc, but you probably never heard of me before. I was... separated from the main family a long time ago."

"Elaborate."

I cleared my throat. "I mean... well... it's tough to explain."

"Then tell me everything you know, I can piece it together."

Damn... Ironwood was hard as a rock.

Or rather, hard like _iron_!

God... why did Yang have to die?

"Well... I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it's what I was told. A member of the Arc family fell in love with a Faunus right before the original Faunus rebellions. She became angry with her siblings—since they fought for the government, after all, who opposed the Faunus—she left the Arc family and started a new life with her Faunus partner."

Why was I saying I had Faunus ancestors?

Because, in a strange way, I had Faunus in my blood.

Ironwood nodded. "There _is_ a small concentration of Faunus inside of you, it is small, but there."

Cinder had created a highly infectious disease that only affected Faunus, but it didn't mean that humans couldn't get infected. I had contracted the sickness, and it was flowing through my bloodstream, but it didn't do anything to me since I wasn't a Faunus.

Instead, she made humans the couriers. I could spread the disease despite not being affected by it.

It drove Faunus even further away from human... simply ingenious.

We had managed to created a vaccine that prevented the spread, but it didn't stop the symptoms. As long as I had the disease in me, which would be forever, I would have the antibodies that prevented it from being infectious.

And Faunus DNA was obviously used for the cure and... blah blah blah some science stuff. I fought, I wasn't a scientist for a reason.

All I knew was that there was some Faunus in me in a twisted way. It wasn't like it would make me have night vision or something—I was still a plain old human. Maybe a percent or two of my blood was the antidote—which was quite a bit, but necessary since Cinder whipped up a _brutal_ concoction.

They thought it was Faunus blood since the disease was created eight years after the war started, there was no way they knew how to properly identify it.

I had a disease that didn't even _exist_ yet.

"So do I check out?" I asked.

"No, there is still no records of you anywhere."

"We were quite recluse," I supplied quickly. "My family hated the government for their actions during the Rebellion, they decided to stay as far away from politicians as possible."

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Dead," I said, thinking of my family from the future to draw sadness into my tone. "Grimm, more Grimm than I have ever seen in my life. They attacked and my family told me to run... I did..."

The memory of Ren yelling at me to get Ruby away as he held off Cinder flooded my mind. Or Pyrrha, who died at seventeen, locking me away as she went on a suicide mission to kill Cinder.

My life was pretty shitty now that I thought about it. Cinder made my life a living hell...

"A shame," Ironwood said without a single hint of sincerity in his tone, before continuing, "Your story both makes sense, and doesn't make sense, at the same time."

"You got the blood as proof," I argued. The blood work actually put more holes in my story than it filled them, but as long as I acted confident that they wouldn't find anything, they wouldn't bother to look.

Ironwood thought silently for a minute.

"What should we do about you?" he asked.

"I... I'm not sure," I answered truthfully. "I kinda want to see the rest of the Arc family, but... but I feel like I wouldn't belong there. Technically, since they all live in Vale and they're my only blood relatives, I'm Vale's responsibility."

"Yet you're apprehensive," Ironwood supplied.

I nodded. "Yes. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. I have skills, I know that, but what should I do with them?"

"What do you value?" Ironwood asked.

"I want to protect," I said firmly. I wasn't even lying either—the only thing I could do was fight.

Ironwood nodded slowly.

"We could make a deal," he offered. "Despite the size of the my army, there is a shortage of soldiers with both high combat skills and political tact. I need someone who can handle a conversation as much as a sword."

My mind raced.

He was offering me a job.

An _important_ job.

"Why are you trusting me?" I asked quietly after being silent for a _long_ time.

Ironwood, just like eight years ago—or three years in the future, whatever the hell it was—smiled slightly and looked at me the _exact same way_ as when he first took me as a student.

"I've seen a lot of things," he said. My eyes widened as I realized it was the same exact speech as when I was nineteen. "I trust my eyes, and I can see something in you that I can't fully explain... but I'll try. I see a man who has been through too much for his age, and is yearning for a better life—not just for him—but for everyone. I can't help but see a younger me in you."

I swallowed, hoping the lump in my throat would leave.

"I..." I choked out. "I'm... honored at your words. I'll prove to you that I can be trusted."

"Then prove it to me... right now."

I stared at him in silence.

Why was I trying to hide? The biggest pain of the entire war wasn't getting stabbed, or being burned...

The biggest pain was being alone—losing all the people I love...

If I didn't just wake up and find out all of this was a twisted dream, then it meant I was given a chance. Somehow, I was living _before_ the world went to hell. I could stop Cinder before she ruined my life...

If this was really my chance... I wasn't going to mess it up. Playing it safe was the best option—going alone against Cinder Fall was basically suicide... Pyrrha proved that.

So why was I lying about my origin? What was the point of being vague?

I needed people I could trust, people who were willing to fight a war in the shadows.

And General James Ironwood was at the top of my list.

"Okay," I said after a few minutes of deep thought. "Get ready... this is one hell of a story."

* * *

After ten minutes, we were done talking.

We had more to talk about, but we didn't have a couple of hours that was needed to explain even half of my story.

Yet, despite a _very_ abbreviated story from me, Ironwood still gave me the benefit of the doubt.

I forgot how damn good of a leader Ironwood was. I knew that the void he left when he died was never truly filled—I was simply too inexperienced to fully replace him.

Ironwood walked over to me and took off my handcuffs. I flexed my arms around, still feeling my right arm sting from Cinder's fire.

"We still need to test your combat proficiency," the General said as he stared at me. "I have a feeling that you will do fine, but there will no doubt be people who need to be convinced."

I nodded, resolute.

"This is a judgement call," Ironwood said. "I'm putting a lot of trust into you."

"I won't let you down," I said, exactly the same way as when I spoke to his dying body. "I'll do whatever it takes."

I meant that statement completely.

"So," I started as we exited my cell and walked down the hallways of Atlas' biggest base, "how exactly am I being tested?"

"Specialist!" Ironwood barked. Withing a few seconds Winter came out of who knows where and saluted.

"Yes sir!"

Ironwood gestured to me, which made her glare.

"You're gonna fight our guest here," he explained. "Want to introduce yourself?" he asked me.

I nodded.

"My name is Joan," I said to her, "And yes—it's predominately a female name—but I'm named after my ancestor who was a badass, so that makes it cool."

There was no doubt she would've scoffed if Ironwood wasn't around. But what else was I suppose to call myself? It helped prove I was an Arc, and my ancestor Joan _was_ a legendary warrior...

Ironwood thought it would work—and his word alone was more than enough to verify my story.

"Winter Schnee," she said as professional as ever. "I hope you are prepared, because I _will_ attempt to maim."

I would have been scared if I didn't know that Winter used that threat against literally everybody.

It was good to see her. I didn't know what god I messed with for this to happen to me... but I wasn't complaining—I would've sold my soul to the devil if it meant seeing my friends again.

I smiled brightly... this was my chance to fix everything.

"I think I'll do fine."

* * *

Both my guns survived.

According to Ironwood, they were found closer to the charred body of Cinder Fall than my own landing spot. Ren's last memento had its green paint long chipped away, leaving it a dull gray color—yet, despite some scratches and a dented blade, it was still functional. Ironwood's revolver was as sturdy as ever, excluding the aesthetic designs long etched away.

I tucked them both into holsters on my hip, raising an eyebrow as I stared into a mirror.

Honestly, I hadn't cared about my looks in years. I always kept an eye out on what I did wear, but not because of the need to look good. I was the leader of an army—if I looked like I gave up than it would hurt the morale of the troops.

At base, I kept my casual jean and hoodie combo—it made me looked relaxed, like the war wasn't bothering me. I had a more advanced armor for battles, but it was nothing more than the bare essentials.

I had my Aura to protect me, and my Semblance was at it's strongest during the war. I didn't need any supplementary protection—but maybe that thought process was the reason my right arm was burned to hell.

I was given standard Atlas armor that consisted of a black padded suit with thicker gray armor to protect more vital spots. I never liked the attire, since it left the stomach with little protection. The padded armor helped against blunt force trauma and Dust, but not against blades.

The helmet was honestly stupid, so I opted to not wear it. Who designed a helmet that covered the eyes? While yes, it had a advanced interface that the user could look through, once Dust became scarce an entire army could turn blind.

I trusted my own eyes more. I felt like it added a personal edge to a battle whenever direct eye contact was made.

General Ironwood drilled that into me. That despite all the sayings that say that you can never really trust your eyes, it only applied to those who didn't train their eyesight to higher levels.

The outfit would have to go, I decided, trying not to sound like Coco Adel. The armor just didn't suit me at all—I wasn't cut out to look like a soldier—despite the fact I was a commander of an army...

Irony, perhaps?

* * *

The base we were at had a rather rudimentary stadium. Atlas was known for flashy things, but the stadium I was suppose to fight Winter in had... well nothing.

There was a screen which that showed Aura levels, and that was about it for technology. It was a completely empty metal field with no fancy biomes like the Amity Colosseum.

I looked around it as I subconsciously held my borrowed sword. It was annoying how every single weapon in their armory had some sort of dust attachment or stupid transformation to it. There were no classics, as Ruby would call them, no good quality sword and shields that I could use.

There were, however, low quality classics. I had an absolutely _horrible_ sword that was so uneven at the tip that I honestly wanted to puke inspecting it—who knows how Ruby would have reacted to it. My shield was circular, which felt so unnatural compared to my old shield, and it was a bit too thin. The worst part was it didn't even fold into a sheath! It was such a simple function of Crocea Mors that I honestly took it for granted.

From an outside perspective I was easily outclassed by Winter.

I stared as she came out in her normal attire, but her sword was freshly restocked with probably the purest Dust available.

Of course, I had ten or so years of combat experience that literally _nobody_ else in this world had. Future Winter could most likely kick my ass with a blindfold, but _past_ Winter?

That was my advantage. Even if it was arrogant, I'd like to say that in the end I got pretty damn good at fighting. It took years of not being that good at combat for it to suddenly just _click_.

It was rough, fighting in the war, but I gained experience that was invaluable for a warrior. Of course it didn't justify what I lost to gain said experience—my strength was unfortunate byproduct of not being able to protect the ones I cared about.

...when did I become so morbid?

Throwing my dark thoughts away, I noticed that there were more than a few soldiers sitting in the stands that surrounded the stadium. living in a military base was actually quite slow, since there weren't any wars or massive scale Grimm attacks in the years before Cinder attacked. This would probably be the most exciting thing to happen to these soldiers in weeks.

Good, I thought, I needed to give them something to talk about.

I approached Winter and stood an appropriate distance away—I had the upper hand and I knew it, despite what everybody else might believe.

"Are you ready?" Ironwood ask, not caring about formalities in the slightest. Winter nodded to her leader while I didn't react at all—I was watching Winter intently, trying to psych her out.

Ironwood merely flicked his hand downwards.

It was all the signal we needed.

* * *

I rose my shield as she rushed me. I knew Winter would go on the offensive—I fought her too many times to count. It would be surprising if I _didn't_ know her style completely.

Winter Schnee fought with such grace and eloquence that most people could watch her fight—but never truly _understand_ the pure discipline and skill it took to fight as both a noble and a soldier.

I could easily say that I, like most people, couldn't fully understand. She fought at a caliber much higher than mine... but was that an advantage?

Years of the most advanced teachers drilling in the most advanced techniques. Was that really necessary?

Her speed greater than mine—no battlefield could change that. My shield blocked her experimental stab and I merely shoved it forwards to make her jump back—gaining me some space.

I frowned as I looked at the shield and noticed her blade pierced at least a half an inch into it.

I dropped it to the ground—it was useless against a foe as sharp as Winter.

Hehe...

"Perhaps you should give up, rookie?" she taunted.

"I'm no rookie!" I said seriously. "I'm a ten year vet!"

She snorted. "How the hell did _you_ ever survive ten years?" she asked, obviously not believing me.

I only smiled as a response.

Winter rushed me again. She swiped her blade at speeds that I could barely follow.

I parried all of her blows, my sword moving in a defensive blur as she jabbed and swiped at me with precision only a Schnee could manage.

As she leaned forward to execute a rather vicious stab, I brought my free hand up and palmed her blade away, surprising her and making her stumble off balance. I brought the hilt of my sword into her head—her Aura did enough to prevent a knockout.

She used the momentum of my hit to flip behind me and slice at my back. I flared my Aura and deflected the hit, hooking my foot onto my dropped shield and backheeling it into Winter's legs.

She span away to dodge it. I swiveled around and slashed at her powerfully, making her dodge yet again.

Put her on the defensive, I chanted in my mind.

I drew StormFlower into my free left hand. It erupted as I fired from it. Winter jumped away, dodging the bullets like they weren't traveling faster than sound.

I rushed forwards.

I swiped my sword at her and she leaned out of the way. I brought up StormFlower and used the bladed part to stab at her face—she barely managed to bring her head away before I took it off.

My assault continued. I charged into her, using my bigger body as an advantage to throw her off her feet and onto the cold floor. I stabbed ferociously at her downed form, but she rolled away and my sword was embedded into the ground. I had to leave my weapon as she channeled Dust into her Saber and fired a stream of ice at me.

I switched StormFlower into my right hand and drew Ironwood's revolver—firing a shot of the revolver that tore through her ice. Winter sliced through the bullet and met me head on.

I spun out of the way of a stab and sliced Stormflower vertically into her blade. Her saber went into the ground and I stepped on top of her foot and tripped her.

As she tripped forwards, I brought the handle of my revolver into the small of her back—knowing she would have been paralyzed without her Aura.

A Gylph appeared below me as she hit the ground and a flock of Nevermores appeared. They clawed at me and forced me to retreat while Winter recovered.

She glared at me as she got back onto her feet and charged.

I ducked, feeling some of my hair get detached by her blade.

I leaned to the side as she brought her sword towards me in a stab. Now facing her side, I brought up StormFlower and emptied the clip into her.,

She created a Glyph and dilated time, her speed increased tenfold and she swiped all of the bullets out of the air before they hit her. She slashed at me and her blade dug into the metal chest piece I was wearing.

With her saber stuck in my armor, I brought my fist down into her blade with enough force that it jerked it out of her hand. I threw StormFlower, clip empty, at her and grabbed her blade.

She easily dodged my improvised projectile and had to quickly duck underneath a stab I threw.

I held her saber like a rapier, using a style that _she_ had taught me in the future.

I stabbed at her constantly. She easily dodged most of my attacks, but couldn't execute an attack of her own.

As she back flipped away from a broad slash, I fired Ironwood's pistol at her. The stopping power of the bullet ripped through her Aura but only managed to graze her. Winter gritted her teeth as blood streamed down the side of her chest.

The Schnee quickly ran over to my discarded sword and picked it up herself. She frowned at the quality of the blade, but I gave her no time to think.

I slashed diagonally, making her block with her new blade. I brought up my revolver and pointed it straight at her face, but she created a Gylph that blocked the bullet.

I fired the bullet _after_ I saw the Gylph being created, of course, I wasn't aiming to kill.

Letting go of my revolver, I grabbed her sword, feeling the blade dig into my hand painfully. I channeled my Aura into the poorly made blade, making it glow before it shattered into a thousand pieces.

I flared my Aura to take the brunt of the shrapnel, but Winter wasn't prepared. Her Aura took all of the shrapnel, but at a heavy cost.

Her Aura was in the red.

Ironwood didn't stop the battle yet, just because someone was in the red didn't mean their life was in danger—it only meant that their Aura couldn't protect them.

He was seeing if I would go for the kill.

Winter was blown back by the miniature explosion I caused. I took advantage and grabbed her by the arm before she flew out of my reach—pulling her towards me and butting my head into hers. She let out a gasp of pain at my unorthodox attack.

Ignoring the stinging in my brain, I brutally hit Winter in the cheek with the hilt of her own saber. Her body twisted around and I brought my elbow down into her upper back, making her fly into the ground.

There was a sickening noise as I drove her own saber into her shoulder—the sound of a blade piercing flesh never pleasant. Winter let out a shocked yell as she was pinned into the ground by her prized weapon.

I panted as blood pooled around my feet.

Maybe... maybe I went a tad overboard.

I _was_ in a war for ten years... I may have gotten a bit _into_ the moment.

"I believe that is it," Ironwood finally spoke.

I pulled the blade out of Winter and laid it down next to her. I then walked around and retrieved my two guns before joining Ironwood—who was waiting by Winter while the medics got ready.

"I stabbed a very non essential spot," I said as I approached. "Your Aura will heal it within the day... there might be a scar, but it'll be pretty small."

I actually had a scar in the exact same spot. It came from when both her and Ironwood stabbed me in the shoulder _multiple_ times when I trained with them. Maybe it was payback... despite the fact nobody except me had knowledge of those events.

Winter glared at me from the ground as she grabbed her saber—the blade was still shining with her own blood.

"Impressive," Ironwood commented. "You are different in battle."

"I was taught to be decisive," I replied.

"It seems so," he said with a thoughtful hum. "How do you think Specialist Schnee fought?"

Her look was colder than ice.

"I though she did exceptionally," I said after taking a moment to think. "She's an amazing fighter—I'm not completely sure how I managed to beat her."

"You had me outclassed," she said angrily. "It was like you knew how I fought."

I smiled at her... such a sore loser.

"I'm not a mind reader," I shot the idea down. "My Semblance is nothing along the lines of what you are thinking. In fact, I didn't even use it during our fight."

I didn't mean for it to be a jab, but I could tell my words _stung_.

"Not because it was an easy battle!" I quickly rectified. "Because it's practically useless at my current state!"

She continued to glare at me... why was I still so awkward?

Irownwood nodded silently. He somewhat knew what my Semblance was, and was probably pondering on the finer details of my ability—it was a special one, no doubt. It was a Semblance that needed to be explained in great length to fully understand—I only had around ten minutes to tell Ironwood as much as I could, so he didn't know much.

The medics were approaching, and Winter frowned at how urgent they looked.

She turned an embarrassed shade of red as they loaded her onto a stretcher.

"I think we get along quite well," I said dryly as she was carried away.

Ironwood stared at the retreating form of his specialist.

"You should," he said. "You will be her partner."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"She won't like that."

"I doubt she will refuse."

* * *

"I refuse!"

The pure... _venom_ in her words actually hurt me a little. I stared at Ironwood blandly with a look screaming 'I told you so' as he stood on the other side of Winter's hospital bed.

"Winter," Ironwood said. "This isn't a thing you can argue about. Specialist Arc has proven himself your equal and you _will_ be his partner."

"Why!?" she cried. "He appeared out of nowhere! His story is filled with holes! He cold be lying for all we know, actually, it's better to assume he _is_ lying rather than he _isn't_ lying!"

I clutched my heart dramatically. "Oh Winter! My heart bleeds at your words!"

She glared at me with enough malice to fill a chalice...

Weiss actually made that little rhyme after a battle once... which kinda explained why it was so lame.

"He's insufferable!" Winter yelled, making me draw even _more_ comparisons to the dead counterpart of her sister.

"He is powerful," Ironwood shot back coldly. "And despite his mysterious backstory, I trust him. He has almost too much good in him—but you are too childish to take a proper look and see."

Winter shrunk down at Ironwood's sharp words.

"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled quietly.

"No matter," the General said. "You are to work with Arc for the foreseeable future, do you understand?"

"Yes," she muttered, pride defeated.

"Don't worry!" I reassured. "We're gonna have a blast together!"

I was going to wipe the _her_ out of the history books. By the time I was done, not a single person in the world will know the name 'Cinder Fall'...


	2. Brave Old World

**Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _As much as the (former) commander hated to admit—his army was pretty bad at recruitment. It started when Cinder took out Beacon, and then all of the other academies._

 _Call it arrogance, because it was. They were so convinced the combined coalition of the nations were strong enough to deal with Cinder Fall. They were wrong, of course, since she easily dismantled them like they were cheap furniture. They finally noticed the deficit in troop numbers four years into the war, when there should have been a fresh batch of students in the academies..._

 _With no schools to teach the future generation, there was no future generation. People didn't want to join the army because they didn't know how to fight. Also, since Cinder and the White Fang kept staying tenacious, there were no Huntsman to fight the Grimm._

 _Nobody had fate in the Huntsman anymore._

* * *

 **Brave Old World**

* * *

It took Ironwood around three months to finally admit my skills were going to waste.

No, it wasn't him being a bad leader or anything—it was absolutely amazing that I could be under his command again—it was just that this world wasn't engulfed in war like mine was. I had spent ten years fighting a threat much different than the people in the past could fathom.

I wasn't suited to fight Grimm anymore—they were nothing more than little annoyances for Commander Jaune Arc. My skills were obviously being wasted fighting any Grimm, may it be King Taijitu or Ursa. My fighting style wasn't about fighting instinctive beasts anymore...

I was more suited to fight humans. Unlike Ruby or Weiss, who were trained from a young age to kill Grimm, any modicum of skill I had was created fighting Cinder and her army, not Grimm.

Without a doubt it was my Semblance that kept me on the front lines—it was too valuable to be anywhere else.

I trained my troops all the time in some attempt to keep the last hope of justice alive, and I'd like to say I did a pretty good job at it—but that was the issue. After spending years training people how to fight humans, I had practically no skills in fighting Grimm.

It was actually a lot more different fighting Humans compared to Grimm. Grimm were instinctual, they didn't think ahead. Every time I fought, I though of the long haul—were they trying to lead me to a corner? Or perhaps charge their Semblance? Oh... were they going to make me dodge in this direction... and then—?

Grimm were straight to the point. They attack and attack—no thinking involved.

The last major Grimm I had killed before my little... _trip_ was the damn dragon that Cinder could somehow control—and I didn't even do much to it tactically. I was the distraction, Yang and I took hits and dished out hits as cover while the others found a way to kill it.

Ren (bless his soul) figured crashing an airship full of Dust was good enough to get it, and he was right. I did literally nothing but get smacked around by a giant Grimm while everyone else took their time making the plan.

I didn't blame them at how long their plan took... yes, a lot of people lost their life fighting, but it was a war... we knew death would happen...

 _"Joan,"_ Winter's voice rang in my ear, snapping me out of morbid thoughts. _"Are you in position?"_

"Yes," I whispered into my ear piece.

Anyways, the point was I was pretty damn bad at fighting Grimm. Whenever I got into a serious fight, I could help but think I was fighting Cinder instead of my actual foe. I was shamefully unprepared for the fighting style all Grimm had, and it was obvious that my skills needed to be used elsewhere.

So I was, in simple terms, Ironwood's Raven. I lurked around in the shadows doing both sanctioned and unsanctioned activities, all of them involving humans (and Faunus, but what was the difference?) and a thick veil to keep me out of the public eye.

Like, for example, wiping out a group of White Fang extremists.

Luckily, this was a sanctioned mission, and it was pretty simple.

Take down the group of terrorists and capture the leader for interrogation. The group were brutal, but nothing too powerful. As much as I wanted to see Adam and end him before he became one of Cinder's top men, I knew I couldn't just yet. Blake was too valuable of an asset and friend to allow her to potentially stay in the White Fang—which could happen if Adam was killed prematurely. She still needed time to finalize her resolve on leaving the White Fang, and I didn't want to mess that up.

 _"My squad is going to attack the eastern checkpoint in less than a minute. Use the distraction the sneak in and take out the upper echelon."_ Winter let out what sounded like an annoyed huff.

"What?" I asked, amused. "Are you jealous that I get to take out five of the White Fang's worst?"

 _"Those guys targeted an day care center,"_ she seethed through my earpiece. _"I want to be there to take them down myself. You're a lot louder than me anyways... yet I'm the damn distraction."_ She whispered the last part to herself, but I heard it.

"Don't worry, Winter. I'm not gonna let these guys get away."

 _"Don't die. If I found out I wasted an entire week planning this..."_

I stayed silent, feeling a warmness creep through my body.

It was nice to know Winter actually had some sort of feeling for me. As much as she tried to hide it and pretend she hated my—I knew she cared deep down inside.

It was my Semblance, after all. The ability to gain power based on how many people... how to describe it...

Believed in me?

Supported me?

Whatever. My Semblance made my Aura multiply depending on how many people were... on my side.

For example, my power was substantially weakened after I ended up in the past. With nobody knowing me, my Aura was a sliver at what is used to be. At the state I was in, things like the burn on my arm couldn't heal... Cinder would have demolished me with a single little toe.

In contrast, when General Arc became a war phenomenon by killing the infamous Mercury Black and Adam Taurus along with beating Miss Fall, my power rose substantially—I'd like to say a thousand times more. With an entire army basically giving me power I was a force to be reckoned with. I was the only person who could stand against Cinder Fall and walk away on multiple occasions.

I fought a dragon head-to-head one day and went to the front lines the next. My Aura both protected and healed me at incredible levels since it was so bountiful and potent. With a position of leadership I was a juggernaut. To be cliche, the power of friendship did prevail...

The weakness of my Semblance was revealed when Cinder wiped out an entire army. With the loss of thousands I could barely function, it was like a hangover from hell—or the feeling of a high coming down times a thousand.

I found ways around it, of course. Learning how to refine my Aura to more concentrated levels helped deal with the constant loss of soldiers, so even when my army was half it's original size I could still fight at practically the same level.

It was an excruciating process. Aura control wasn't a popular topic since it was damn near impossible. Aura was literally a persons life force, it took unfathomable mental and physical stability to be able to control it and use it with free will.

It was instinctual, Aura naturally rises up to block any danger. There were very, _very_ few people out there who could manipulate Aura well enough to utilize it in battle. By the end of the war there were only two people that could do it... Jaune Arc and Cinder Fall.

Cinder could make weapons like a bow and arrow, and Ren could make shields and jam guns with it. I wasn't as precise as them (I would never be as mentally sharp as they were), but my skills were still impressive.

A massive explosion to the east rustled me out of my thoughts. I took a deep breath and calmed myself.

It was time.

* * *

"The fuck? Ram, what the hell is going on?"

Rambo, the Ram Faunus who was (in)famous for wiping out an entire human orphanage, frantically looked at his scroll.

"Eastern point is being attacked... looks like military from the—communications are jammed." His tone became grave at the end as his scroll went blank. "Goose," he said to a duck Faunus, "what's the plan?"

Goose, the leader of the group, frowned.

"I say we—"

A figure barreled into him, sending him sprawling onto the forest floor.

"Well hello there," I said in a faux amused tone. "Who would have thought I would run into the Barrage Squad? The White Fang group dedicated to attacking human children..."

"Who the hell are you!?" a wolf Faunus (or some sort of dog) yelled frantically.

I smirked.

"I'm your judge, jury and executioner..."

I ducked as a beaver Faunus fired a blast from his shotgun at me from behind. I flared my Aura to prevent any spare shrapnel from hitting the leader—I needed him alive. I rose my shield, which was almost an exact replica of my old one, and stopped a stream of fire from incinerating me.

It couldn't be...

I looked past my shield to see a cat Faunus holding a flamethrower.

Thank every god out there, I thought, because for a second I could hear Cinder's melodious laughter taunting me...

I channeled my Aura and fired it as a concentrated blast at the cat, he dodged it, but I was there instantly to slice at him with my sword (which was a lot higher quality than the one I had against Winter). Being a cat Faunus, he managed to spin his body in an impressive show of flexibility to avoid being cut. He flipped away from me and readied his flamethrower again.

His flames were considerably weaker than Cinders, however, and I surrounded myself with my Aura to stop any burns as I blocked a giant swing of a broad axe. A bull Faunus (not Adam) let out an angry breath as I matched the strength of his towering figure. With a grunt, I pushed his weapon away from my shield.

Beaver fired his shotgun full into my back, but my Aura and body armor took it all. I let out a grunt as I span around to build force and swiped my blade at Bull, he was too slow and got caught right in the chest. I left my sword stuck in his body as I had to duck underneath a high caliber bullet.

Ram had a sniper rifle that was specially made like Ironwood's. It could tear through Aura like a hot knife through butter, and could easily pierce the body armor I was wearing.

Channeling my dwindling Aura supply, I released a pulse of energy. It blew the stream of fire away from me and sent my sword deeper into Bull's body. I grabbed the giant battle axe he dropped and flung it towards Beaver, who yelped as he dived away.

Raising my shield, I ran towards Ram. Every shot Ram fired made a dent in my shield, but didn't penetrate it. I kept my shield up and rammed into Ram (ironic?), as he flew back I drew my Stormflower and held the trigger down before even the blade of the weapon could even extend.

In less than a second my entire clip was inside of Ram. I let his body fly to the ground as I whipped around and extended the blade of Stormflower to block Wolf's blade, the Faunus has tears in his eyes as he shakily held his sword.

He could blow up multiple orphanages and day cares but couldn't fight? Really?

I pushed him back and slammed my foot into his knee, he yelled as his leg broke and gravity took him to the ground. I had to roll away before I could finish him, as Beaver finally reloaded his shotgun. I threw my shield at him, it flew a bit awkwardly since it wasn't circular, but it hit Beaver in the chest and sent him tumbling back.

I kicked Goose in the head before he could stand up, sending him into dreamland, and then pulled my revolver out and fired it towards the advancing Cat, who managed to dodge it.

Cat had a two foot blade that was engulfed in flames... which was nothing compared to Cinder.

I fired another shot of my revolver, and as he dodged I rushed towards him. I blocked his petty stab with Stormflower and slammed my revolver into his head. As he stumbled back, I span around into a roundhouse kick and smashed him in the chest. He flew into the ground and laid there, unmoving.

I walked towards him and placed my revolver against his forehead. Cat stared at me in fear as my finger started to press the trigger down...

Suddenly, Wolf jumped onto my back and wrapped his arms around my neck. I stumbled backwards as he dug his claws into my neck and upper chest. My weapons flew out of my grasp as he rode me.

Wolf was screaming for someone to help him, and Cat shakily stood up. I hastily tried to shake the Faunus off me as Cat ran towards Ram's body and picked up his sniper rifle.

I tried to ignore the pain and ran toward a tree, slamming my back into it in an attempt to get Wolf off.

"Do it!" Wolf yelled.

I grunted in pain as I fell on my knees, Wolf was choking me now. My head was getting lighter and lighter as he restricted my oxygen, the fact he cut my throat multiple times didn't help either.

Cat was still dazed from my blow to the head and shakily held the gun up.

As he pressed the trigger I turned around...

I could hear the air leave Wolf as the bullet went through his body and into mine. A lot of the momentum had been absorbed my Wolf's body, but the bullet was still strong enough to penetrate my body armor and enter me.

Wolf fell off me and I growled as I ran towards Cat, I bent down and picked up my revolver as I ran. I rose it and fired every bullet I could into him. Cat flew off the ground a few feet away as the life left him.

I collapsed to the ground panting as my back and throat bled freely. I concentrated and used whatever Aura I had to heal my wounds, it didn't do much to stop the bleeding, but it definitely prevented the damage from being fatal.

The only people I had to utilize my Semblance was Winter and Ironwood, and I was still fighting as if I had my old reserves. These guys would have been destroyed in less than a minute if I still had the same support as when I was a commander...

A weaker Semblance for a second chance _was_ a good trade off, I suppose, but my neck still hurt like a—

The sound of Bull's moans of pain finally hit me as the haze of battle left.

"Ah shit," I muttered as I realized I was just sitting there as he bled out. Enemy or not, it was against my morals to leave a person to bleed out slowly and painfully.

...but he was notorious for killing children...

I held my hand up and checked my analog watch. All digital technology would still be jammed for another five minutes, so I had to wait until I could contact Winter.

It took almost the entire five minutes to secure Goose and Beaver with my injuries. To make it worse, there was no good position to rest after I was done working. I couldn't lay on my back or lean against a tree because of the bullet wound, and I couldn't lay on my stomach because of Wolf tearing up throat area.

 _"Joan?"_ Winter's voice finally rang through my earpiece. _"What's your status?"_

"I have the leader and one of his subordinates secure," I said, my voice raspy.

 _"You sound..."_ she thought for a word to use, _"...hurt."_

"Turns out, there were six guys, not five. I got my throat all cut. Luckily there isn't any serious damage to my vocal cords. My Aura healed a lot of my neck damage, but it's still damaged and I got a massive bullet stuck in my back."

 _"I apologize for the bad info,"_ Ironwood said sincerely, not even bothering to use an excuse.

"No problem, sir."

 _"Specialist Schnee,"_ the General commanded, _"status."_

 _"Minor injuries on our side, sir. There are around twenty White Fang members that will need medical attention while the other fifteen are well enough to be put straight into cells. There are five casualties on the White Fang side, as well."_

 _"I am sending a support team to collect the prisoners. Schnee, you will take a small medical team and secure Specialist Arc while the rest of your troops wait."_

 _"Yes sir."_

 _"And Joan,"_ Ironwood started, using my first name, _"good job. Ironwood out."_

I waited for a few seconds to make sure he was gone..

"You jealous, Winter?" I taunted. "Ironwood is so proud he used my first name!"

 _"Isn't your throat suppose to be slit?"_ she asked, irritated.

"So?"

Both Ironwood's and Winter's support of me grew—I could feel my Semblance increase and start to heal my wounds a bit more effectively.

 _"You're horrible,"_ she said blandly.

I chuckled.

"You enjoy my company, and we all know it."

* * *

"You come to give me my medal?" I asked drowsily as the painkillers flowed through my system.

Winter rolled her eyes. "If it was a sanctioned mission, I would be giving you the Brave Crest. This, however, is being classified... so no feather." She eyed me blandly. "You have an entire shelf of them anyways."

"So? They're prestigious awards that are only given to those hurt in the line of du—wait? I thought this mission was sanctioned?"

Winter pulled out a thick manila folder and dropped it onto my stomach. I groaned and glared at her as I groggily grabbed it.

"The mission was messier than we thought," Winter explained as I looked at the contents of the folders. "If the mission was sanctioned we would have to release these photos, and Atlas decided it's for the best if the public didn't see this."

"I'm in a hospital for being shot," I said blandly as I looked away from the photos. "And now you want me to throw up?"

"You're the last person who would be bothered," she said dismissively.

"True," I mumbled quietly. " Damn Winter! Is that a..."

She knew what I was talking about. "Yes, that is a leg... they really didn't see the initial explosion coming."

I didn't even bother to look at the rest of the papers. I skipped to the end and pulled out the only one that mattered, the official secret act. The hundred or so other papers were the terms and conditions of why and how the act worked.

Without looking I held my hand in the air. A few seconds later Winter put a pen in it.

"There," I said as I handed her the papers. "I even put a heart above the 'I.''

"You don't have an 'i' in your name..."

"Maybe my middle name is..."

I paused lamely as I thought for a word.

She looked at me with a completely flat expression. "At least think of a middle name if you're going to lie like that."

"Cut me some slack, I got shot!"

"You get shot all the time."

"Does that make it any better?"

"Actually it does... because I know you won't do me a favor and die."

I gasped dramatically. "Oh Winter! You carry your name sake so well! Such frigid words will give me hypothermia!"

"Be quiet."

"What shall we do now that your words have dropped the temperature below freezing? We must copulate immediate to prevent another ice ag—"

 _"Shut up!"_ she hissed dangerously. "You fu—"

"Specalist Arc," Ironwood said as he walked into my room.

"Sir!" Winter addressed as she straightened. I tried to straighten as well, but groaned as my back burned.

"Relax, Joan," Ironwood said, using my first name to drop any tension.

"Sir," I replied with a nod—leaning back into my bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"As you can see, I'm still a bit stiff, but the wound is nothing permanent—like always. The doctors says around ten days to be perfectly fine; I'll be in your office in five."

Winter glared at me, while Ironwood smiled. "Good," the General responded. "But can you lower it? I have quite a few high-risk missions that I need you to go on, and all of them are in a close time range."

I nodded.

"Don't worry, sir, I'll report to you in two days."

"Joa—" Winter focused her attention from me to Ironwood. "Sir, Specialist Arc was hit by a very high caliber bullet. It is unwise to send him out so early... he should take the whole ten days to rest and—"

"Specialist Schnee," Ironwood said impassively, "do you have the papers?"

She nodded tightly. "Yes sir," she said with a nod. "Here." She handed him the secrets act I just signed, leaving out all of the pictures and regulations.

Ironwood glanced at it for a moment and nodded.

"Much appreciated Arc, I'll be expecting you in my office in two days time."

I saluted.

"Specialist Schnee," Ironwood addressed as he left the room.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Then Winter smacked me in the head.

"Ow! Winter! What was that for!?"

"Are you crazy!?" she yelled. "You just got shot, you imbecile! It doesn't matter how much Aura you have—you just got out of surgery a few hours ago!"

"Well... I don't have a Brave Crest to prove I was sho—"

"This isn't a game!" she roared. "You are a horrible excuse for a partner, but my morals will not allow me to let a man to basically commit suicide! Ironwood sending you on these missions are inexcusable! No single person should go on the volume of missions you go on—most of them are classified as well!"

Winter was, without a doubt, an absolute bitch at times. Underneath the Schnee exterior, however, was a heart of gold that cared for anyone and everyone—even if she didn't know it.

She was a big softy. She didn't want to admit it, but anyone who had to spend an excessive amount of time with her would notice the mother hen tendencies she had... something her sister picked up.

"The Remnant won't survive on happy thoughts," I said. "No matter how much people believe in the power of positive thoughts—there needs to be a person who can take all the negativity. It's simple, really, Ironwood needs someone who will do the dirty work... and that person is me."

She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter if you see yourself as a martyr—illegal is illegal even for a soldier."

I smiled. "I'm just doing what I can for the good of the Remnant. My life is pretty insignificant compared to the millions of lives my work could potentially save."

The millions of lives my work _will_ save.

She stared at me for a moment.

"Your life _is_ pretty insignificant," she relented. "My sister's teddy bear has more value than you do... no offense."

I smirked.

"None taken, Snowflake."

Her face tinted red with anger.

"You _rat_!"

* * *

"Specialist Arc." Ironwood actually sounded surprised. "It's only been a day... how are you here?"

"I flirted with the anesthesiologist and she gave me a bigger dose of a stronger medicine," I explained. "I can't feel my legs, but I'll be fine in a few hours time. The quicker I get the mission the more time I'll have to prepare."

"Wow!" a new, familiar, voice chimed. "I like this kid, Jimmy, he's either a badass or an idiot."

Qrow Brawnen, who was by far my best informant in the war, revealed himself out of the corner of Ironwood's office. He had his trusty flask in hand (he even died holding it), and was clearly using it to its full potential.

"I'm a bit of both," I admitted. "But I'm definitely more badass than idiotic, at least in my own opinion—which is the only opinion that matters."

Qrow laughed loudly. "There you go! You know how it is!"

"Qrow," Ironwood said, agitated. "This is my... ace in the hole, in a way. He's my little secret—my best man by far. He already has prior knowledge of the Maidens and even has some information on the Queen and her pawns."

Qrow's red eyes seemingly glowed. "Oh really? Care to enlighten me?"

"Care to share the flask?" I shot back.

"Joan," Ironwood cut in before Qrow could give me his drink, "you just said you're on powerful painkillers. You shouldn't be drinking alcohol unless you want to end up back in the hospital; especially the garbage Qrow drinks... I'm pretty sure he drinks hand sanitizer."

"I wanted to see how it tasted! I knew I should have never told Oz that story! Stupid Tai and his bets..."

I sat down in a chair and made my self comfortable.

"What do you want to hear, Qrow?"

"Do you have the name of the Queen?" he asked, becoming serious in an instant.

"Cinder Fall," I said without hesitation. "There is a shadow player, Salem, but Cinder is the one I am truly scared about."

Salem's goal was to wipe out humanity using Cinder. What she didn't realize what that, no matter how inhumane she was, Cinder was a human being. Cinder pretended to be a fake queen when, in reality, she was the true player all along. She used Salem to attain power, and then stabbed her in the back once she wasn't needed anymore.

I actually helped Cinder take down Salem—enemy of my enemy and all that. Of course, once humanity was saved we went back to killing each other.

"Any details on this 'Cinder' and 'Salem'?"

"Cinder is smart—like Ozpin level smart. She's as brilliant of a tactician as she is a seductress... and trust me, she's the most attractive woman I have ever seen in my life. She has the White Fang in her pocket and isn't afraid to use them."

Qrow furrowed his eyebrows but nodded. I took it as the cue to continue.

"For Salem, it's best for you to tell me what you know and I'll see if I can add anything."

"Well," Qrow shrugged, "we know she doesn't like humanity, and she may not be fully human."

I chuckled dryly. "Well... from what I heard, she's a crazy witch who wants to destroy humanity—our facts are the same. She's got some powerful magic, I know that, but it seems like she was defeated before in the olden days; so we can probably beat her again if she comes out."

"How do you know this?"

"I went for the traditional route." Ironwood and I decided that it was best to keep my story secret until some key events happened—like Blake and Ruby joining Beacon. We couldn't change everything immediately since we needed to draw Cinder out. Ozpin was smart, but he wouldn't be able to control Qrow from going after Cinder once I mention what happened to Yang or something.

"Traditional?"

"Looking at temples and shit—that's how I got Salem. I got Cinder because she isn't stupid. She asked around about Salem, and I asked about the person who asked about Salem."

"Nice," Qrow said with a smirk.

"Joan's Semblance is the ability to gain power depending on the amount of comrades he has," Ironwood explained. "He also has an extremely high amount of Aura and astonishing combat prowess. I think he will be a great asset if we allow him into the fold."

"It's Oz's choice more than anything."

"It will be easier to convince him with your word."

Qrow snorted. "I didn't realize we were such good friends."

"We're not. I'm asking for you to take him along so he can prove himself."

They both looked at me. My head was bobbing back and forth as I stared at the ceiling with a completely blank expression.

"Jimmy... he's high as fuck."

"Yeah... perhaps you should wait a little."

* * *

"You!"

I yawned. "Hi Winter."

"Not you," she growled, "you!" She stared at Qrow accusingly as the red eyed man stared... amusingly...

Damn Yang with her stupid pun and rhymes...

"Snowflake," Qrow addressed. "You're up rather early."

"It's nine!"

"Exactly. I usually don't get up till ten."

"Specialist Arc!" she yelled in a demanding tone. "What are you doing with this... this cretin! Especially when you are suppose to be in the hospital!"

I could feel my impending doom, but having Qrow next to me prevented me from running or begging my way out. "I went to Ironwood last night. He gave me a mission to go on; Qrow just happened to be my partner on this one."

"Sorry Scheeze, he's mine."

Her expression was like stone. "You better be careful around that man."

That man, Qrow, smirked. "Is that jealou—"

"You want to get some food?" I cut Qrow off. "We're going to that one pancake place everyone talks about."

Suddenly, the anger was gone.

"The one at the street corner?"

"Yup."

She shrugged.

"Sure."

* * *

"Are you serious?"

"On what?" I asked, miserable. "On my air sickness or on the fact I didn't read the mission report?"

Qrow chuckled. "I can understand you not reading the report—you were high as shit. But the air sickness? Ironwood said you were one of his best guys... really?"

I went to yell, but almost vomited instead. "It... it's more common than you think," I quickly threw out. "When my Semblance was stronger it helped deal with this... but I—" My eyes widened.

Qrow shoved a trash can in my hand, moving his weapon away protectively.

"Well, Vomit Boy—" I groaned into the trash can at the return of my dreaded nickname, "—the mission is an off the books one. There are a few prototype machines that we need but the makers aren't selling. It's extremely, extremely high priority that we get them as quick as possible."

"What is it?"

Qrow glanced at the door leading to the cockpit, making sure it was closed. "The first is a prototype medical... casket, to say. If you put a person inside of it they will go into stasis. It's basically like those old movies when a person is frozen in ice and unfreezes a hundred years later perfectly fine—of course, there is no ice."

"Why can't we wait for these to be mass produced? Sounds like every hospital in the world will get one of those eventually."

An unnatural frown appeared on Qrow's face. "That would be great, but the man who owns the company only made two of them. His grandma came down with Aura Cancer, a real nasty thing. So he put her in stasis until they can find a cure. It cost too much money to produce; however, and he doesn't want to sell off his own idea."

"So he just shelved a potentially life saving invention?"

"That's exactly what he did... he's an asshole."

We were silent for a few moments, before I decided to speak.

"What's the other one?"

"The second is a prototype machine that can transfer a Semblance from one person to another."

My eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's crazy." Qrow looked grim. "The reason you never heard of it is because it takes the life of the person giving the Semblance; plus the receiver can be killed if their Aura is overwhelmed by the other Aura."

"It was banned for being unethical," I guessed.

"I think the screaming is what really got it banned. I saw a video of it being tested... it's not pretty."

I nodded, I had some experience in that. I was there when the Winter and Spring Maidens were taken by Cinder, and they were not pretty sights. The memories of the Spring Maiden especially—it drove me to keep Ruby safe.

Those Maidens were completely badass, as well. A regular person would probably have their heart give out if they had their life force sucked out.

"So what's the point in all these?" I asked.

Qrow leaned in even though we were alone.

"Keep this a secret," he whispered in my ear. "Even to your partner."

"I hide a lot of things from Winter," I whispered back.

"Good, because this is a big one. I found the Fall Maiden, half dead. She was attacked by somebody who took part of her power. If she dies, the person who hurt her may receive the rest, so we need to keep her alive and find another host."

Qrow looked impressed at how impassive I was. In fact, I wasn't surprised at all. I knew that they had Amber in my old world, and I did see the machine that they tried to use on Pyrrha.

A giant tube that kept Amber alive—check.

And they tried to transfer her power to Pyrrha—double check.

"Those machines are separate," I pointed out.

"You're not even fazed by the whole Maiden thing?"

"Not really. So how are we combining the two machines?"

Qrow stared at me for a whole minute before shrugging. "Doctor Polendina knows about our situation; he can modify the machines to suit our needs."

I nodded, it made sense. Doctor Polendina was an absolute genius—a mind of a generation. He created Ironwood's prosthetic, and not to mention he would eventually create the wonderful Penny.

During the war, Polendina was one of my most important assets. Not only did his brilliance in machinery helped create new weapons and soldiers; his ability in organic life helped create the psuedo-antibody that I was currently injected with. In fact, I trusted him so much I volunteered to be the first one to try out the vaccine.

The entire robot division he made was pretty nice as well... until a lot of the sentiment beings decided Cinder was better and caused a robot civil war.

Yeah... that happened...

Like us organic beings didn't have enough shit to begin with. I had to mediate peace talk between robot... ROBOTS!

Thank the lord(s) for the EMP.

Then some realizations hit me.

"Qrow... how are we going to extract the casket thing?" If my memory served me right, it was massive. It was created for humans, so it needed to be big enough to hold all sizes.

"Uhh... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"We do have supplies, right?"

"This is suppose to be completely off the books. We're being dropped in and left by ourselves. We're trained in infiltration, we can acquire our own supplies."

"Yeah, but the casket alone may be too big for a regular Bullhead. We would need either a big ass aircraft or a big ass boat to carry all of it, and that's not including how big the Semblance machine is."

Qrow laughed lamely—a bit Ruby like.

"We have no back up," I said, hopeless. "No Ironwood or Ozpin, right?"

"Ironwood is Ironwood, too noticeable. Ozpin has a school to run, and trust me, he's a bit too eccentric for this line of work. Glynda could be quiet, but not stealthy—that wand is flashy as hell. My brother is the only other option, but he has kids... he has the most to lose in this whole situation, so we don't call on him a lot."

"I have a lot to lose. I have friends... well friend—if Winter is considered my friend."

"She's not."

"...then I have nothing to lose."

He looked at me. "Life's depressing, ain't it?"

"Definitely."

* * *

The city was on Draco, the most northwestern part of the Remnant.

A little geography lesson. Atlas was the most northern state, and also the smallest by far; but there was an island between Atlas and Vacuo that was massive. There was a huge war between Vacuo and Atlas a long time ago on who would own the island. Atlas won, of course, but relented and decided to share part of the landmass with Vacuo.

The northern past of the island that was shaped uncannily like a dragon was Atlas' part of it. The other half was just a blob of land—not relevant to the current mission at all.

In order to get people to colonize the war torn land, Atlas made it so there was lower taxes there. Companies absolutely loved that, so they flocked to the land in great numbers. In fact, the SDC was the only major Atlas based company that had their headquarters on the mainland.

I went there twice in my entire lifetime. Ironwood decided to take me, a young war hero (I had managed to hold off an entire White Fang battalion until reinforcements came) who was was rising up the ranks to gain some of the support of the companies. Unfortunately, all of the CEO's were assholes and decided not to be involved in the war at all.

The second time was when the cities was burning. After the mainland of Atlas fell, a lot of its people, including the SDC and the Winter Maiden, decided to travel to Draco for safety. Sadly for us, a rather rich business man tried to buy Cinder's love with money and information about the Winter Maiden. Cinder ended up with money, a head start and a burning corpse of what used to be a rather rich old man.

When we found out we initiated an all out offensive.

By the time we were done fighting the once technologically outstanding cities of Draco were nothing but rubble and ash.

One of biggest battles in the war, if not the biggest, happened there—it was where I really earned my title.

The incursion of Cinder's dragon really messed up whatever plans we had. With both Ironwood and Winter killed early on by Cinder, I was left in charge of a completely massacred regiment who had just lost over sixty percent of its men and most of its technology. Somehow, I manged to put on the daddy pants and defeated Cinder's forces... if making her retreat was a victory.

I had single-handedly killed Mercury Black and his entire elite squad by myself, which also included the infamous Adam Taurus (but Blake arrived when only Adam was left and helped me... I'm not sure why she didn't get any credit). Then we managed to kill that damn dragon (at the cost of too many, which made it a loss in my eyes). And then finally, after weeks of battle after battle, I managed to fight against Cinder Fall and win (making her run).

The only reason I 'won' was because she was still getting accustomed to her new power, so I didn't consider it a legit win either. The whole point of entering Draco was to protect the Maiden, not save the city.

We got a lot of money from whatever companies were left. It didn't do much, however, since a lot of it went into Polendina's robot army that completely lost its value a year and a half later.

Penny was truly one of a kind... hopefully she wouldn't die this time around.

All in all, Draco was not the fondest place in my heart. Actually, I hated that place... I really did.

Draco had many cities, but the most technological city in the entire landmass was on the northern wing. The 'wing' of the continent was divided into three parts, and the most northern tip was as close to Atlas as possible while still keeping the tax breaks.

"We're gonna have to be ghosts." Qrow broke me out of my thoughts. "That means we need to avoid all the security cameras."

I frowned. "Qrow... Draco is filled with cameras—especially Nordenstadt, they have the biggest city wide surveillance system ever."

"Yup," he said with a nod. "Even the sewer systems have cameras in Nordenstadt. The crime rate there is practically none since there is so many cameras. I heard the reason Roman Torchwick is so flashy is because he started out there and knew there was no point in hiding."

"That isn't good since we have to steal and escape with big machinery."

"I know that.

I stared.

"Qrow."

"Yeah?"

"What do we do? We can't even land without a camera tagging us."

"We're not landing, we're jumping."

"Jumping where?"

"We—well really I—found out one of the weak points in Nordenstadt's security system."

"And that is?"

Qrow smirked.

"Above."

"Above?"

* * *

"Why can't we just land? Say we're on a military mission?"

"We're too high profile—we will need to explain to the nearest general why we are here and have them on our ass the entire time."

"And this is better?"

"Yes, it is."

"Qrow," I started. "This is the stupidest plan I have ever heard of in my life."

"What's wrong with it?"

I cleared my throat, as if I was about to read off a list. "Well, just to begin..."

"Joan, it's the best plan we have."

"No! It's not!"

"Are you afraid?"

"No! But I'm not flying a bullhead up to the motherfucking stratosphere and jumping out just to land on a massive ass building with a spike on it!" I cut Qrow off before he could retort, "I'm not exaggerating! So don't even start!"

"Joan," Qrow said sweetly. "You know as well as I do that this is the best way we have. This is a specialized Bullhead that can go that high, there will be no technological failure."

"Not the tech! What's so incognito on becoming paste on the ground!?"

"What do you want me to do!?" I was actually surprised by Qrow's outburst. "I'm a fucking school teacher during the day! My idea was getting Winter in the fold so her daddy can just buy the other company out! But that was vetoed so we have to jump out of a damn Bullhead!"

"Qrow... this sucks."

"I know!"

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. The Bullhead we were in was built for high altitudes, and since windows were structural weaknesses this Bullhead had no view to the outside. There was, however, an altimeter fixed to a wall that was currently ascending.

"Look," Qrow started, taking a swig of his flask and handing it to me. "The average bullhead has a range of around a mile, and the highest you'll find a Nevermore flocks are around that height as well. The scanners for them have a range of at least a mile and a half."

"But they have some big ass buildings in Nord. The scanners are probably mounted on top of the skyscrapers."

"That's why we go two and a half miles up. I know their scanners can't measure four kilometers into the air."

"Can a Bullhead handle that?"

Qrow held his hand out and gestured for his flask. I took one more swig and handed it to him, who closed his eyes as he sipped.

"Well... this Bullhead should."

"Should?"

"I'm not a fucking scientist, Joan, cut me some slack."

I sighed. "Fine... fine. We go up that high, and then we jump. What's gonna stop us from hitting the ground? Those scanners are meant to detect Nevermores, so they're attuned to a specific speed. We can dive at terminal velocity and not show up, but a parachute will definitely show."

Qrow let out a small groan and gestured to a box across from us.

"In there are some Dustpacks."

I rose an eyebrow. "Using red Dust will be a light show when it's this dark out, people on the ground will notice."

"We're not using red Dust, we're using green Dust crystals."

"Aren't those for swimming?"

Dustpacks are a backpack like thing that have two ports on the bottom, and they did varying things depending on the Dust put in.

For example, a red Dust pack was a literal jet pack. It let out fire that helped the user ascend and, in a bootleg way, fly. It was used in combat when fighting Grimm, especially in the rocky parts of Vacuo.

The ones we were using, a green Dust pack, used air instead of fire. Many divers used it to propel them underwater while they swam. It used the green Dust crystal to release spurts of air. Movies actually used them a lot, since it propelled the actors without any sign of being used.

"Yes," Qrow answered. "They're usually for swimming, but these are a bit modified."

I sighed.

"I know, it isn't reassuring," Qrow said. "Basically, these things are loaded with some pretty damn pure crystals. The modification is that there is no safety, those things will blow their load in one go."

"That could, theoretically, stop our fall—along with giving us brain hemorrhages—but what about the force of the blast? That will shatter some windows if we use it too close."

"That's the dangerous part. We have to use the packs at a pretty decent height, and then take the rest of the fall. It's dangerous, but if we pull it off we will be in the city completely unnoticed—a feat that hasn't happened since the city wide security system went up."

I pulled out my Scroll. "Do you think we're too high to make calls?"

"Who are you going to call?"

"Winter." I noticed his raised eyebrow. "I'm gonna do some math while we wait, but I suck. I'm gonna call Winter and have her do the conversions."

"Text her instead, the reception will probably be crap up here."

I nodded and asked her, _'this is all hypothetical but if i was to jump out of an bullhead 2.5 miles in the air and have to land on a skyscraper around 800 meters high what are my chances?'_

Winter, being Winter, replied within twenty seconds. _'Excuse me?'_

 _'i just want to know some variables like how fast a hypothetical person will fall'_

 _'I thought your mission was classified.'_

 _'this is hypothetical'_

 _'You're an idiot.'_

I sent a :)

It took her around a minute to respond.

 _'2.5 miles is 13200 feet into the air, and if the building is 800 meters than its 2624 feet tall. You have to fall 10,576 feet. Give me a moment to do the rest.'_

"Well Qrow, we have to fall over ten thousand feet."

Qrow looked at his flask. "I didn't bring enough of this shit."

"I would have stayed in the hospital if I knew how shitty of a job this is."

My phone buzzed.

 _'I believe a human falls at around 174 feet per second, so in one minute you will cover 10,430 feet approximately.'_

"Seventy minus thirty... lets see..." I thought for a moment. "Qrow, after one minute we have a hundred and forty six feet between us and the tip of the Gipfel Building."

"You know," Qrow started with a frown, "math make all of this seem so impossible. Now that I know the calculations it sounds like a human can't do this—Aura or not."

I nodded miserably. I hated knowing the odds of success—I'd rather go in without the expectation of winning or loosing, it prevented hopelessness or arrogance. But as a commander I needed to know all the statistics.

I was so lucky to have people like Weiss, Blake or Ren to help me with my tactics. When Weiss and Blake were killed sabotaging Cinder's Dust supply I was left on my own. I was pretty hopeless without them... I did mount an all out offensive against the most powerful person on the planet, after all.

A green light turned on above us.

"Well," Qrow stood up, "that's our cue."

We walked over to the Dust packs and strapped them on.

"Joan," Qrow called. "Once the door opens and all the pressure change hits you, it's gonna be rough. The first time I ever jumped from a height comparable to this, I found it useful to hold my breath until we got to thicker air."

"And how high was that jump?"

"A mile and a half."

I sighed.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be."

Qrow banged on the wall next to him, and after a few seconds the door started to slowly open. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I stared at the open air in front of us. It was night outside, so I could see the glowing light of the city below us.

We looked at each other and nodded before both running out of the Bullhead.

I took a few seconds in the air to align myself with the Gipfel building and then tilted myself downwards into a nose dive. My Aura was shielding my eyes from the onslaught of air as I honed onto the building that was growing bigger by the second.

It had been ten seconds.

Qrow's flask flew out of his pocket. The teacher slowed his descent and managed to get his hand on the container, fumbling around air for a little bit before finally managing to grab it. Those few seconds, however, was enough to make me surpass him by a decent amount.

Half a minute.

The lights grew brighter and brighter. It was truly a magnificent sight, looking at such an advanced city from above. I could notice the illuminating glow from other cities in the distance

Twenty Seconds left.

I reached to the strap of the Dustpack and felt the button to deploy it—I was just making sure it was there.

Fifteen seconds.

I exhaled, knowing that the air would be torn from me forcefully anyways. I had no clue what the proper sky diving etiquette was—but my situation was pretty different from a normal one in my own opinion.

Ten.

I positioned myself so my feet was facing the ground.

Five seconds.

I activated the Dustpack. My entire body stopped mid air in what sounded like a loud boom. I could feel my internal organs lurch inside of me as the Dustpack started to fall apart—it could't handle the sheer force it released.

My coherency came back as gravity started to take its hold back. I unfolded my shield as I fell towards the tip of the Gipfel building; a stupid idea forming in my head.

My entire body lurched as my shield bashed against the apex of the building—I literally bounced off and toppled off course. Luckily I managed to fall on a scaffolding on the edge of the rooftop instead of flying off the building.

I heard a small boom and noticed Qrow's figure stop midair. His descent wasn't as graceful as mine (and that was saying a lot), and he was sent off course. I leaned over the side of the scaffolding and managed to grab his arm before he fell all the way to the ground below.

I felt my Aura prevent my arm from being pulled from its socket. I tugged on Qrow as hard as I could an pulled him over the edge. We both collapsed onto the rooftop, panting.

"Oh... oh shit..." Qrow started to laugh, making me start to chuckle as well.

"You're fat, Qrow!"

He wiped his hands through his hair as he laughed. "Are you kidding me? At least I didn't try to make a kebab out of myself!"

"But who actually landed on the building?"

We looked at each other for a moment before erupting into more laughter.

* * *

 _"Specialist Arc?"_ Ironwood's voice said as I turned on our communicator, which was a encrypted radio (they were horribly outdated compared to Scrolls, so nobody monitored radio traffic).

"I'm here, sir."

 _"Did you make it in?"_

"Yeah we did, Jimmy!" Qrow called from behind me.

 _"Good. That's really good news. Anyways, your Scroll traffic can be monitored—it's unlikely but we need to be completely invisible in this op, so keep them off. I'll give you directions to the safe house verbally."_

"From General to GPS... how the mighty Ironwood has fallen."

 _"Qrow... do you want to go to the safe house or not? You can sleep on a roof if you want."_

"Nope! Sorry Jimmy, just jumped out of a Bullhead."

 _"You need to jump from roof to roof, the safe house isn't far, but some roofs do have cameras so the route will be a bit longer. Specialist Arc, how well do you know the city?"_

I did lead an army in this city.

"Good enough."


	3. The Tale of One City

**Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"Look, this is a shitty situation and we all know it." He looked around, seemingly looking into the eyes of his entire army. "I'm not gonna sugar coat anything... people think we're screwed, they think we're done. And I know deep down inside you guys think that as well."_

 _He stopped. Staring at his newly acquired army with a hardened look—a look of a man who has seen too much._

 _"The ultimate enemy to all of humanity is right out there. Nobody expects that today is the day in which the fate of the Remnant will be decided—the day in which we look at the bitch who's trying to take the world and she looks back. Draco was created by the blood of brothers fighting each other for petty reasons... a false baptism of blood."_

 _He was glowing slightly with power._

 _"We will baptize Draco again. This time with the blood of our enemy. We will win because we not only have the enough heart for a billion men, but because we carry the hope of the entire world as well. They may think we're done... but deep down inside they want us to win—they want nothing more than to see a miracle."_

 _He took the revolver of the deceased commander and started to load it._

 _"But we don't need a miracle. We're better than she is. We don't need a miracle because we're gonna walk up to that monster and show her that true strength isn't from fear or thievery—it's from the blood and tears of people who refuse to back down! I'm gonna walk into the battle with a smile on my face, and I hope that you guys will follow me with the exact same smiles as well!"_

 _Power was radiating off him._

 _"I want to ask who we're fighting, but I fear you guys don't know the answer yet." He paused and looked around. "If ask who, many of you will say 'Cinder Fall'. But that's not who she is. When I ask who! We are NOT fighting a person! We are fighting a corpse! Because Cinder Fall will be nothing but a corpse when we're done with her! Am I mistaken!?"_

 _There was a resounding cry of 'NO!'_

 _"Then I, Commander Jaune Arc, am going to march into Draco with my head held high and my sword buzzing with excitement! Because I know that today is the turning point in this damn war! Today is the day the world fights back and shows that corpse exactly what it can accomplish!"_

 _Nobody was going to argue on how the commander self appointed himself—they supported it._

 _Because Commander Arc was the hope and dreams of the entire Remnant embodied._

 _-A recounted tale of the Battle of Draco_

* * *

 **Tale of One City**

* * *

"You know, why do we even have a safe house in Nord? The city has never been infiltrated before, and that kinda ruins the point of a safe house."

Qrow stared at me for a moment, before shrugging. "I don't know," he said. "This place was probably made before the city wide security system was added. Look at it, it looks pretty damn shitty."

I collapsed onto a couch, watching as dust erupted from all around me.

"Does a safe house need to be not shitty?" I asked.

Qrow walked over to a cabinet in the kitchen—we were in an apartment—and started to rummage through them.

"Joan, we just fell two and a half miles. I want a fucking hot tub and enough cookies to feed all of Patch."

Well... I knew where Ruby got her cookie addiction from.

"Oh shit," I picked up something from the floor, "Qrow look. It's an ancient fossil! It's a newspaper!"

He glared. "Joan, you know newspapers were around in my time."

"You're a dinosaur!"

"You shithead!" he retorted. "The Scroll hasn't been around forever! There was a time where you couldn't get information instantly or be able to check Aura levels on the fly. We had radios to communicate with each other!"

"You know, that only makes you older and older."

"I'm not old! The Scroll only came out around a decade ago!"

"We have a Triceratops wandering around here! Is this a pet friendly safe house?"

"Piss off, Joan."

"Did you smoke tobacco on your pipe as well? Huh? Did you have an extra nickel from your five dollar pay check and decided to go over to the local haberdashery to shoot up some cocaine—cause it was legal back then?"

Qrow slammed his hands down on the kitchen counter and seethed silently.

It was magical... who knew the great Qrow was sensitive about his age?

"Could Faunus vote back then? I don't think they could... women couldn't vote either, right?"

"Joan... you better stop."

"Oh Qrow! Were you an early adopter of electricity? I know Dust seems pretty magical—and we all know how skeptical you guys were back then... with the witchcraft and all."

"It wasn't like that! I had electricity!"

I smirked. "You don't even have a driving license, do you? You didn't need a license when the original car came out! I bet you have Yang drive you aroun—" my voice got caught in my throat.

"Yang?" Qrow's eyes narrowed. "How do you know about my niece?"

I chuckled nervously.

"Oops...?"

"Oops indeed. Now talk... or else."

I thought for excuses.

"You mentioned her while drunk."

"I would need to be completely fucked to do that. I haven't been that drunk in weeks."

"At breakfast?"

"The last thing I would do is mention my family to Winter."

"After we fell out of the plane?"

"Why would I think of my family?"

"Your life flashed before your eyes."

Qrow gave me a bland look.

I opened my mouth, and then closed it. "Maybe your—ah fuck it. I'm the supreme leader of the army in the future and came back in time to stop the world from going into chaos... and I might have hooked up with both future Yang and future Ruby before but at separate times... but I'm not a player since it was both years apart and both Yang and I agreed to not mention it to anyone because while we were together in the army—we weren't _together_ together—only partners. And I was going to propose to Ruby but I got sent back in time by a crazy bitch who is _way_ too attractive."

Qrow stared at me.

And stared.

And stared.

And after almost a minute, still stared.

"What the hell?"

* * *

Qrow was taking it a lot better than I thought.

"One more time for me... this time with more clarification."

I nodded. "Well, I entered the army at—"

He cut me off, "I don't give a shit about your life story. I payed practically no attention to how you entered the army, or how you became commander and all that shit. The only thing I want to hear about is Ruby and Yang."

I stared, meekly. "Well," I started weakly, "I went to school with the both of them... Ruby got in two years early after stopping a robbery."

"Typical Ozpin," Qrow said lowly.

"We were all pretty close friends at Beacon—I was completely shit at fighting and they watched my back. When the war started I grew a pair and together us seven ascended up the ranks."

"Seven?"

I frowned. "Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren... we were Team JNPR. Cinder took out Pyrrha during the Battle of Beacon."

"Pyrrha Nikos? That one prodigal girl from Mistral or something?"

"The one and only," I said with a nostalgic smile, before sobering after a few moments. "Anyways, they decided I was going to be the leader of our little team—with my Semblance and, according to them, I was a pretty decent tactician."

"That doesn't explain the term 'hooked up.'"

"I uh... well uh..." I swallowed a lump in my throat. I did NOT have to have this conversation with any of my girlfriends... well girlfriend since I only ever went official with Ruby. I had no clue how to talk to my significant others parents—I could barely talk to my own parents.

"Talk," he ordered.

"Well... I was a heavy hitter. I had a lot of Aura and could use it to take hits and receive hits. Yang was the same with her Semblance, so we would fight the bigger targets." I looked at him for confirmation.

"Make sense."

"We had just managed to take out a White Fang base when we ran into our worst enemy... Neopolitan and Emerald. Emerald is the only person I know of who can create basically an illusion so powerful that not even pain or being unconscious can stop it. She can take the sensory inputs to the brain and warp it into her own fantasy."

"So she can control the targets perception."

"Yeah," I said tiredly. "She was tough on her own, but Neopolitan was the bad one. She is the craziest assassin, and person, who probably ever existed. She's short, mute girl who's a possible dual Semblance user."

Qrow actually looked surprised. "An actual dual Semblance user? The last recorded one was..."

I nodded. "Yeah, and she's wickedly loyal to Mr. Torchwick—it's the reason he's so confident. Her ability to create Illusions can affect an entire stadium, and she's considered a prospective dual semblance user with teleportation."

For a while we thought that Neo could just run away by making us fight an illusion, but that was seemingly debunked when she vanished _on camera_. Her ability at illusions was incredible, but could she trick technology as well?

Qrow put two and two together. "You two were incredible front line fighter, but against assassins..."

I nodded grimly. "We couldn't beat the two best assassins of the time. The fight started in the basement of a base we just cleared. It was dark and we had to fight silent foes who would hit and run. As you know, Yang catches on fire with her Semblance, and I glow like a stupid lamp. We stuck together and tried to corner them, but Emerald soon made Yang think I was Adam Taurus."

"The White Fang member?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah and the person who..." I couldn't speak.

"What is it?"

"He..."

Qrow looked worried. "What did he do?"

I hesitated.

"Qrow... remember that this hasn't happened yet. We still have time to change this."

"It depends what you say and if I decide to believe you," he retorted.

"Qrow, Adam cut off Yang's arm." I winced as I said it. "At the Battle of Beacon Yang lost her arm, but she got a prosthetic so she could continue fighting. Yang was literally obsessed with finding him at the time—which Emerald knew and took full advantage of. We both used swords and were both around the same size, so Yang could barely tell the difference in her anger."

I took his silence as a cue to continue.

"We had an objective. Cinder was creating a weapon of mass destruction... it was a single, hand held rifle. When fully charged it fired a blast powerful enough to go through the walls of Haven and into it's power supply. That thing blew up one of the most secure places in the world with a single bullet... and it was recharging in the other room."

Qrow nodded stiffly.

"You uh... you actually died sabotaging the weapon. You managed to sneak into Cinder's base and destroyed the blueprints to the weapon. You uploaded a virus that wiped Cinder's entire research and development division before assassinating the man who created the initial designs. The man was an insane tinkerer from the desert... I wish I knew how Cinder recruited such powerful people."

"I... killed him."

"Yup. That guy was crazy, and was a massive loner. The only person who new how to make the weapon was a corpse in the ground because of you, and all that was left of it was a half finished prototype. Cinder was pissed, to say the least, and sent the strongest people in her army to kill you—and I mean the strongest. Adam was pretty instrumental in your demise, which didn't help my case with Yang at all."

I paused, trying to think of the best way to tell the story.

"It... it was a tough battle. Anyways, you wanted to know about how we got together, so I'll skip what happened in the base. In the end, I managed to destroy the weapon and make the two bitches retreat... but I didn't do it unharmed. Yang felt horrible for what she did to me, but I insisted it was Emerald's fault." I let out a deep breath. "It was Emerald's fault..."

"What did she do to you?"

"Nothing."

"She did something more extreme than beating the shit out of you, didn't she?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"I'm... no."

"I want to know."

"You want to, but you shouldn't know."

"Joa—"

"I'm not going to say."

"Jaune," he used my real name, "I want to know what Yang did to you in the base."

I sighed. "I was beaten pretty quickly, but Emerald kept the illusion up. Yang, thinking I was Adam, enacted the payback she was thinking about for years."

Qrow stared and I looked at the ground.

"Are you going to tell me?" he asked.

"Qrow... do you remember how I landed on top of the Gipfel building?"

"Uh... yeah." I couldn't dare look him in the eye, but I could tell he was a bit confused by his tone. "You used your shield and bounced off the tip of the building, before grabbing me out of the air."

"Yet my arm is perfectly fine. Aura or not, that's one hell of a blow to take without even a bruise."

"So your shield arm is jacked? What's the—" Qrow's eyes widened "—no."

The safe house had a pretty good view, I decided.

"It was Emerald's fault," I said quietly. "It's Emerald's fault I lost my arm, not Yang's. That girl is way too nice for her own good... it wasn't her fault... Emerald made her do it."

"That's how you know Dr. Polendina," he breathed out.

I nodded. "I was familiar with his work, but the first time I met him was when he outfitted me with a prosthetic. The parts he gave Yang and I were pretty regular looking compared to Ironwood's, so it's practically impossible to notice since my sleeves are always long."

"She..." Qrow licked his lips, "she actually did that?"

"Again, it was Emerald," I clarified. "In Yang's eyes, she took the sword of _Adam Taurus_ and amputated _Adam Taurus_ , not Jaune Arc. There's no way I could blame her for something like that. We were in war... we all knew that horrible shit could happen." I sighed again. "And that's the answer to your question... Yang felt bad for amputating me and wanted to make amends."

There was silence.

"I need a drink," Qrow said.

"We can't go out, but the last team to be here must have hid something."

* * *

"Qrow," I drawled sloppily, "does booze expire?"

"You ask that after we got shit faced?"

"Yeah." I looked at the bottle of... of something and squinted—what did those letters say? "I just figured that since alcohol can kill bacteria that it's like... sterile or something."

"That just means only the strongest shit can grow in it."

I stared at the bottle... before taking another swig. "I have Aura, so why the fuck not?"

"So Ruby was a shitty teenage love story?" Qrow asked slowly. "She just liked you because you're somehow more awkward than she is."

"Hey!" I yelled back, throwing a half finished bottle of vodka at him, "We had a great relationship! I was so smooth around her! She's the first and only person to call me cool!"

Qrow caught it and took a swig before talking, "That's not a good thing, dumbass!"

"Screw you, Qrow!"

"Stay away from my nieces!"

"I said 'Qrow' not Yang or Ruby! And come one man!? There's no way in hell I'm dating a girl ten years younger than me!" I suddenly sighed deeply. "All my friends are a decade younger than I am—"

Qrow was caught off guard. "Jaune..."

"—so now I'm stuck with your bum ass!" I pointed and laughed heartily.

Qrow was about to retort, but the radio started to emit static.

 _"Joan, Qrow!"_ the voice of Ironwood rang from the machine. _"The Semblance machine is being transported to another facility off country! There's practically no chance we can retrieve it if it leaves Atlas!"_

"Shit." I could already feel the sobriety seep into me body.

"We're on it, Jimmy!"

We geared up and stumbled up three flight of stairs onto the rooftop.

"Okay okay," Qrow muttered before turning to me. "Joan, once we get one of the targets the other will be put on maximum security. I'm a better infiltrator so I'll break into MaxLabs and... well I'll find the machine." How the hell he would get it out was another situation.

"Good luck," I said as he jumped away.

I looked down at the street below. "Let's see... there!" I pointed at a dark square in the middle of the sidewalk, remembering all the information I had from holding the city. "That black panel leads into the Dust reserve for this block..."

When the Dust got low they would open it up and dump more inside of it; it was a funnel that led to a giant reserve. So theoretically, I could fire a concentrated blast of Aura down there and (maybe) ignite the Dust used to power the entire block. It would knock out all cameras in the block and could, without a doubt, derail a convey protecting a valuable machine.

But getting down there was the issue.

...maybe I could take inspiration from Miss Fall.

A stringless bow appeared in my hand, it's body translucent and glowing somewhat brightly. I frowned as a string formed, but instantly dissipated into thin air—making a bow string was tough.

I usually only channeled my Aura into blast or shockwaves to accommodate for my obvious lack or range. Ren taught me quite a bit after Cinder tore me apart with fireballs and arrows. It made me into a short range demon with a surprisingly good medium range game. However, shooting into a vent from on top of a building was a bit too much for a Aura fireball.

Ren could, and did, hit a bullet out of the air while being thrown around in the air by a tornado. Cinder could, and did, shoot an Aura arrow from the top of her fucking airship and hit Ruby Rose while she was running full speed.

Those two were masters of Aura manipulation; however, Ren was a lot better since he could do it all without Dust as a medium for stability. Cinder was an expert in Dust manipulation who used it to modify her Aura manipulation—it was an absurd combination that not even Ren could crack.

I didn't carry Dust (I blew myself up one too many times), so that left me with the worst possibility. This was a pinpoint target that needed the speed, the finesse and the aim to be able to travel hundreds of feet from the sky right as a well armed convey drove above.

How did Qrow do this in my timeline? There was no way he went into this city, stole two valuable pieces of machinery, and then escape without being caught by a single camera.

Wait...

Didn't Qrow say Doctor Polendina knew about this entire debacle? Was it possible... was it possible that in a few months Polendina would create the machines instead?

If my memory serves me right, the machine Ozpin wanted to use on Pyrrha involved transferring AURA, not Semblance...

It all made sense. Without me, Ozpin and his crew decided that the mission was impossible and had Polendina create the machines instead. That was why they were so rushed to use Pyrrha—Amber was still dying while they were making the machine.

So now, with me, another person who could join Qrow, they're enacting a plan that didn't happen in my timeline.

Shit was changing. I was changing the events before the other Jaune even entered Beacon—that was bad.

If the transfer was faster, than perhaps Pyrrha would survive... but was it worth it? Cinder could attack _next_ Vytal festival, or Ruby may not decide to go shopping late at night when Torchwick was out. This robbery _might_ delay the train mission that Adam and Blake were going to do, making Blake stay in the White Fang.

Qrow could _DIE_ in this mission! This wasn't good! There's too many variables that even a fucking time traveler didn't know!

This machine could potentially make Pyrrha the Fall Maiden, and if that happened then the entire decade of information I had would go to waste. Was her life worth the information that could save thousands?

Or perhaps _saving_ her life could prevent all of this? If Pyrrha lived and became a Maiden, then there would be no way Cinder could beat Ozpin, or even me.

Was one life worth making me useless? I needed to not only stop Cinder, but Salem and the White Fang as well. I can easily say that without Cinder, beating Salem would have been impossible. It took a three Maiden Cinder and a fully powered Commander Arc to take that witch down—and we both barely made it out.

The convoy was approaching, armored and speeding... I had to choose.

Was Pyrrha Nikos, the girl who was at one point my best friend and crush, worth it? To me, of course! But could I afford to jeopardize the entire future of The Remnant in order to save one life?

I realized it now. I realized why Cinder lost in the end... no human should have so much power. Humans are _selfish,_ and _greedy,_ and they don't ever want to give away the _power_ that they have... because power is everyones dreams of at night.

Information was power, and I had too much of it. I came back trying to stop the deaths of all my loved ones, but who was I to play god? How could I decide to stop one thing and let another thing happen?

I could have stopped Cinder from ambushing Amber. I could have stopped Cinder Fall before she attained the Maiden power and saved an innocent life... but I wanted to make sure my girlfriend got accepted into Beacon early.

And now, I could save the life of Pyrrha Nikos, the girl who believed in me when nobody else did... but I want to leave this place and possible doom her because I wanted power. I want the power this information gives me.

"Fuck!" I cried as I fired an Aura arrow. It traveled into the black square and down into the street right as the first truck of the convoy drove over. There was a few seconds of nothing as the arrow traveled down the pipes into the main Dust supply...

I jumped off the building as the street exploded.

There was a reason time travel was impossible... it was exactly like how no human can be all four Maidens—it made a person a god. Humans can't be gods, they can't handle the power... power corrupts.

I was playing god with my power. I was thinking about making _my_ life better instead of stopping the root of all evil at its bud. I was about kill an entire group of guards because Pyrrha Nikos befriended me in a future that will never happen.

Whatever was left of the street shattered as I landed on it. My sword glowed with power as I charged the dazed convoy.

Just like Cinder Fall, I was going to do whatever it takes to achieve my goal... and just like Cinder Fall it wasn't a just goal.

I wanted the younger me to never feel the pain I had to go through. It was selfish, it was greedy and it was without a doubt the wrong thing to do.

With Ironwoods help we could have had the entire Remnant ready to strike down Cinder at the first reason—that reason being the attack of Beacon and Pyrrha's death. Pyrrha Nikos should use the machine Doctor Polendina created and die fighting Cinder, then we would have the government support needed to take out Cinder and the White Fang forever. That was the perfect plan—I thought it was flawed because Pyrrha would die—but my thinking was the only thing flawed **.**

I was potentially dooming the entire damn Remnant because I wanted one person to live... I was an idiot.

* * *

 _"Kid!"_ Qrow's voice rang from my radio as I smashed my sheathed sword into the stomach of a guard. _"The fuck did you do?"_

"What!?" I let out as I dove out of the way of gunfire and fired a blast of Aura at the assailant (I wanted to keep my shield a sheath to keep my blade from killing).

 _"You took down Codex! The company that made the fucking Scroll and basically the entire fucking internet! Nobody can communicate with anyone!"_

I looked to the building to my side and noticed a ruined 'DEX' hanging from it.

"Oops?"

 _"Not oops! Good job! Without the internet nobody can communicate with each other, and those cameras are wireless as well! We blinded the most secure city in the world!"_

I punched the driver of one of the vehicles in the stomach, he had no padding and was sent flying into a wall.

"Wait... did I knock out the entire Remnant!?"

 _"Yes... oh shit."_

I just took down the internet. It wasn't just looking up stupid videos or definitions, Codex was everywhere. Their technology controlled streetlights in a lot of modern cities, they has private networks for governments that allowed cops to scan license plates and monitor terrorism.

Codex was like the Schnee Dust Company—unstoppable. If those two suddenly shut down then the world would simply stop spinning.

And I just stopped one of the two. Codex boasted being unhackable, and it was... but they didn't expect a person to basically pull the plug on the intricate web they created.

I looked around the street, there was pandemonium everywhere. There was nobody on the street (thank god) when I blew it up, but the convoy was scattered all around.

A few meters away was a massive armored truck on it's side. It was the truck in the middle and was by far the most protected—that had to be the one.

Most of the men defending the machine got thrown around in the initial explosion. If they were wearing their seat belts they would be fine, since all of the trucks were pretty beefy.

I walked over to the truck and examined it. It was facing drivers side up, so all I had to do was knock it onto its wheels.

Which was easier said than done—it weighed twenty tons? Thirty tons?

But I had physics! The higher up I hit than the easier it would be. I just had to hit the part of the truck closest to the sky (I got rejected from Signal, but I was pretty certain I was right).

With a running start, I extended my shield and channeled all of my Aura. I was glowing like a light bulb as I jumped and slammed into the truck, feeling my bones shudder at the impact.

Luckily, the truck slowly started to tilt over and landed on top of another car—wheels down. I ran over to the drivers side and pulled the unconscious driver out (and checked to see if the tires were still intact). There was a little window in the cockpit that looked into the back; in the back was... was a machine.

It looked complicated, so I assumed it was it. It's not like I could take out my Scroll and send Polendina a text.

 _"Kid?"_

"Yo."

 _"What's up?"_

"I'm just driving a massive ass armored through the city, without a seat-belt... one sec," I actually buckled up, "Okay! I have my seat belt on! Which is good because every cop in the city is about to be chasing me."

 _"...wanna pick me up?"_

"Do you have the casket? Because this Semblance thing is massive."

 _"I found it... and there's an old lady in it."_

"What?"

 _"Remember me mentioning the grandmother?"_

"Take her out or something!"

 _"Everyone here is freaking out cause of the internet being gone, so I'm casually talking to you. I can get the machine out, it has wheels, but the issue is what to do once I get it outside."_

I frowned as drove.

"Hey, don't you have a sister that can create portals?"

 _"Raven?"_ Qrow snorted. _"The only way she'll help me is if I'm with Yang and we're both about to be killed. Not me, really, Yang."_

"Ruby?"

 _"Maybe Ruby. Actually probably Ruby as well."_

"Can you say I'm Ruby's sorta boyfriend?"

 _"Kid..."_

"What if we used a shit ton of Gravity Dust and E.T our way out of here?"

 _"Our best bet it to secure it,"_ Qrow said, completely ignoring me. _"We get both machines and hide them somewhere, and then run away with all the heat. We blow some stuff up, get the entire attention on us, and then come back for it later... or have one of us be the distraction."_

"I'm a big flashy guy. I can distract, but escaping is the issue... well Ironwood can handle that."

 _"Dude, you blew up Codex. Ironwood can't do shit to save you."_

"You volunteering?"

 _"I have a job. The kids back at Signal need me."_

"Asshole."

 _"Oh shit, they're moving the casket. Looks like they're gonna drive it somewhere."_

"Wait! That's good! You need to become the driver! I'll stash the Semblance machine somewhere and take the truck on a joy ride. While I'm doing that you drive your truck somewhere quiet and take out everyone in it. Then you drive over to where I hid the machine, pick it up, and boom! Scheduled delivery in all this chaos!"

 _"That's... well that's the best we god. Fucking Jimmy, leaving us to do this shit. I'm gonna need time to find out who the driver is and become him, you get that machine stashed."_

"The government has to chase us and fix the destruction I caused—it'll take at least two hours to fix the damage to the Dust system. And that's if those poor workers decide they want to bust their ass for the minimum wage they might not get. So we have at least two hours to get both machines and escape before the cameras come back online."

 _"You got a place?"_

"Don't worry, in the future I secured this place and evacuated pretty much all the residents. I know all of Draco pretty damn well. MaxLabs is by the Schnee Draco sector, and that's gonna be filled with people trying to get the Dust to fix the internet. So I'm gonna go..."

My head raced.

"...by the Vacuo embassy. Nobody goes there since this is the Atlas part of Draco, and there's a pretty secluded parking lot. I'm not too far, so I can get there before the cops get their heads out of their asses and come after me."

 _"They're passing me, you got maybe two minutes until they get to the crash, and they'll be looking for the truck soon afterwards.."_

"They can't track the truck without the internet, so I'm good for about five minutes."

 _"Shit! The driver is a Charlene!"_

I laughed despite the horrible situation I was in. "Have fun, Charlene!"

 _"I'm gonna say it's long for 'Charlie'... fuck. Kid, I can't have the radio going off while I'm driving with other people, so I'm going lights out. I better see your ass at the other side."_

"Are you still drunk? Because your ass sounds soft!"

 _"Yeah I'm still drunk! My breath alone can make a person intoxicated!"_

"I can smell it through the radio. I'm going to destroy the radio once I secure the machine, if I get caught I can't have anything tracing me back. Good luck and be careful."

 _"I will."_

And then the radio went off... I was alone.

* * *

Four minutes.

It took me two minutes to get to the Vacuo embassy and two more minutes to unload the machine somewhat safely. I did it so fast not even Ruby could beat my time (she doesn't even have a time because she never had to take a stolen machine to a parking lot, so I automatically win).

Qrow was still silent, so he was probably still trying to convince people that Charlene could be a boys name. That left me to get far away from this place and make a big enough distraction for him to get through.

I couldn't even communicate with Ironwood for support, since it would go off on Qrow's end as well.

Sighing, I threw my radio onto the ground and smashed it with my foot. Getting back into the truck, I floored it.

After about a minute, I could see the flashing sirens behind me... good. The one minute it took them to find me was hopefully long enough that they didn't see me pull out of the embassy.

I shoved my foot down as hard as I could—I wasn't going to use the breaks. I learned how to drive from Yang, so I was pretty confident I could win a high speed chase in a regular car... but this was a giant armored truck.

I couldn't out speed or out maneuver a regular car in a behemoth of a truck... but I could use the size to my advantage.

A cop car pulled to my right, so I veered in it's direction, making it swerve off the road.

There was a hard right turn coming up, with wall in front of me.

I didn't turn.

I went straight through the wall. I knew there was a playground on the other side (it was Sunday, so there wasn't school) and ended up on another street. The cops following me had to stop and wait until the rubble was cleared to pass through.

I swore as a Bullhead flew right above me. There was another news Bullhead higher up as well (it was recording film since it couldn't stream it live without the internet).

 _"STOP THE CAR!"_ said a voice from the Bullhead; a loudspeaker.

"It's a truck!" I yelled even though they couldn't hear me.

I swerved left and winced as my truck clipped a cop car, sending spinning way. My own truck would have lost control if Yang hadn't hammered all the unorthodox driving techniques she knew into me.

A car pulled to the left of me, I leaned out the window and fired a blast of Aura at it. It wasn't much, just enough to make it go of road and into a tree.

I noticed a blinking light coming from the Bullhead—were they using Morse Code? By the looks of it, the cops weren't listening, they probably didn't even know Morse Code... that's what happens when their Scrolls go out.

I once heard an old person say that youngsters were too reliant on technology. I never realized how right he was until now—thank you Professor Port, you taught me how to make the most secure city on the planet look stupid.

A spike strip was blown away with a blast of concentrated Aura. I could feel bullets slamming into the back of the truck, but luckily it was armored enough to not be pierced.

There was a police roadblock ahead. I gritted my teeth and slammed into it—feeling my insides jump at the force of the impact.

My truck swerved, but I steadied.

That's when I made my biggest mistake.

I went on a highway.

There's only a few ways off a highway, Yang used to say, and the cops can block all of them. On a highway, you're trapped.

I realized my mistake a few seconds after I went on the highway. There was nothing I could do—escape was useless now.

Shit was not going my way.

And then I noticed a side door of the police Bullhead open and a sniper crouch down inside of it.

I swerved right as a bullet came at me. The seat next to me exploded as the pure force of the bullet made my ears ring.

They weren't aiming to capture... I was a terrorist.

No worse than the White Fang.

The second bullet hit right in front of me. The dashboard exploded, sending glass and plastic flying into my face. My Aura automatically flared up to stop the damage, but I was blinded and swerved into another cop car.

I yelped as I grabbed the wheel as hard as I could.

Winter was right, I should have stayed in bed...

I looked in the rear view mirror—nothing but cops. I absolutely needed to face away from the sniper, but there was nowhere to go.

I kept driving forwards, taking a deep breath as I tried to compose myself.

Ren preached that a clear head could get me out of any situation. I just needed to clear my head... clear my head and—

The third bullet hit its mark.

Blood erupted from my mouth as one hand clutched my bleeding chest.

Damn it!

Bleeding out in the back of a police cruiser was NOT how I was going to die.

The fourth bullet hit the engine block, there was a ominous black smoke coming from the truck as I drove.

"You better get the hell out of here, Qrow," I muttered as I slumped down in my seat. There was a turn approaching, but I wasn't going to do anything about it.

The truck broke the highway wall and sent me careening in the air towards the sea.

The truck exploded before it could hit the water, however.

* * *

I felt almost all of my Aura instantly vanish as I flew into the water. I didn't even try to emerge as I swam as fast as I could away from the scene.

The cops would have to get off the highway and drive under it to where the truck was. They would search for me starting from the wreckage, which gave me maybe five minutes to get as far away as possible.

Hopefully, they thought I was dead—vaporized in the explosion.

I felt my lungs burn, but I willed myself to got a little longer before slowly rising up. I peaked my head out and noticed the Bullhead, hovering above the wreckage with a searchlight. The cops hadn't arrived yet, good.

Taking a deep breath, I kept going, ignoring the hole in my chest.

I managed to emerge from the water two more times, the frequency between them shortening. The blood loss was getting to me, and I could barely make out where I was.

Crawling onto the shore, I placed my head face first into the sand.

Alcohol, adrenaline and massive blood loss did not go well together...

"Joan!" I let out a groan as someone grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me away.

"Qrow," I managed to hack out, "what?"

The bastard looked smug as he smiled at me. "I was taking a detour and saw a homeless man resting on the beach. My charitable side decided to give the bum a ride."

"Fuck... you..."

"I'm not interested."

"You... bastard."

Qrow chuckled. "Don't thank me just yet."

"I... I got... shot."

"I can tell." He was sounding carefree. He was probably trying to make me feel calm. "Just hold on until we get to the truck. It has a first aid kit in it—which will hopefully stop you from dying."

He dragged me to the truck and threw me into the back. I stared at at the two machines as he went to the front to get the first aid kit.

"We really need to get the hell out of here," he said as he threw me the kit. "So I'm gonna start driving. In ten minutes we're gonna get to the security checkpoint at the edge of the city. Your gonna have to hide in the casket while they check the back."

"But... but there's a grandma..."

"Yes Jaune, you have to hide with the grandma. I've smuggled contraband all the time, and there's no other way to get out of this city with unless you get in that."

I weakly raised my middle finger, before opening the kit and pulling out some morphine and plastic gloves.

Qrow stared. "Uh... kid. Are you going to pull the bullet out?"

I injected the morphine. "Yes, yes I am."

"You really shouldn't. You're gonna bleed out."

"I have... bandages."

Qrow continued staring, before shrugging and slamming the door.

* * *

"Yeah," Qrow raised his let hand, his little finger covered in bandages, "I crushed my hand on that big ass machine. Stupid thing made me bleed everywhere, but this delivery pays a shit ton, so I'm not dropping it cause of a cut."

"I feel you." The checkpoint manager looked back at his booth. "What's happening over at the city? We all heard this big explosion but the TV went out. Our Scrolls didn't even work."

Qrow shrugged. "I heard some terrorist targeted the Codex building, took down the entire internet. TV's, Scrolls, my god damn audio system doesn't even work without it."

"Was it the White Fang?" the manager asked.

"I'm not sure. The boss called me over and made me drive this valuable shit away right after it happened—I have no clue who did it."

"It was probably the White Fang. Those fucking animals think they're proving a point."

A checkpoint worker came from the back of the truck, closing the doors.

"It's all good, boss," he called. "A bunch of expensive looking tech, and that blood stain."

Qrow glared at the bandage on his hand. "That's what I get for being a loyal worker. My bosses stupid ass yells at me to keep going despite the fountain of bloods comin out of me. I get compensated for this, right?"

"Hell yeah you do." The manager patted the side of the truck. "Well man, you're all good. Hopefully the whole system comes back up soon—this job is shit without a TV or Scroll."

Qrow laughed. "I'm gonna be driving in silence, someone kill me already."

With that, he waved and drove away.

After a few minutes he tore the bandage of his hand.

"Stupid Joan, bleeding all over the fucking floor... at least he got in with the grandma."

* * *

 **Authors note: This is the last you'll hear of the grandma, she irrelevant from this point onward. Also, I want to mention that RWBY's internet is a lot more... inbred than our own. There's no Firefox or Chrome, there's Codex and there's Codex. That's it. Imagine if someone turned off the entire internet in our world... that would be bad, very bad.**

 **And, as always, I write these things late at night. If you notice any misspelling, grammar mistakes (I know I use a lot of em dashes) or a plot hole feel free to mention it to me.**


	4. The Cat, the Warrior and the Home

**Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"Destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected! Look there, my noblest Lie Ren, and see those thirty or so wild giants, with whom I intend to do battle and kill each and all of them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich ourselves! This is noble, righteous warfare, for it is wonderfully useful to us to have such an evil race wiped from the face of the Remnant!"_

 _"What giants?" asked Ren. "And why are you talking like that?"_

 _"The ones you can see over there," answered the General, "with the huge arms, some of which are very nearly two Bullheads long!"_

 _"Look again, General," said Ren, "what you see aren't giants, but windmills. Those 'arms' you see are just the sails that turn the millstone."_

 _"Obviously," replied Jaune, "you don't know much about adventures."_

 _"Ask Nora about that."_

 _"Nora Valkyrie, my dearest friend, we must go and slay the giants, for they have booty! Come, for they must not be allowed to interfere with their evil any longer!"_

* * *

 **Chronicles of Joan: The Cat, the Warrior and the Home**

* * *

"Ah fuck!" I sat up quickly and immediately grabbed my head. "Oh shit!"

"Joan!" I heard Qrow's voice say as a hand grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back onto the bed.

I took deep breaths as I looked around.

It wasn't just Ironwood and Qrow. There was also Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch, Doctor Polendina, and Taiyang.

The dad of my (former) girlfriend was in my vicinity...

"What the fuck happened?" I breathed out.

"What happened," Qrow started, "is that you still had a shit ton of alcohol in your system and you took a shit ton of morphine! The bullet wound wasn't the deadliest factor, it was you overdosing! You're a dumbass!"

"You drank as well!" I retorted, wincing as my own voice made my head sting. "You sound like Ruby. Her ass always threw me under the bus for everything... why would I steal ten pounds of cookie doe?" She was cute though, so that made up or it.

"Ah yes, Ruby Rose." I lazily stared at Ozpin. "Apparently you were in a relationship with her, am I right, Mr. Arc?"

"Oz, I'm so hopped up on drugs right now I could be a fucking unicorn and not know it. But yes, I did go out with Ruby—we dated for years."

"Did you?" Taiyang asked with narrow eyes.

"Yes."

"What's her biggest secret?"

"She has a picture of her mom that she kept with her at all time—she's afraid that if she let it out of her sights it will disappear forever. That, and she sneaks Dust into Zwei's food—that's why she insists on feeding him all the time."

Taiyang's eyes widened. "What!"

I chuckled. "Another thing to prove my legitimacy. Yang kept setting off the fire alarms with her Semblance when she was young, so the teachers used to spray her with a squirt gun to cool her down."

"She's a little firecracker," he said fondly as he pattern me on the shoulder. "My names Taiyang, but call me Tai. I heard some crazy shit about you, and figured I should come over here to meet you myself."

"Ruby tries to bake cookies when she's home alone," I replied. "I hope you have insurance... and Yang throws parties, but I'm not suppose to say that."

"What!?"

"Tai," Glynda said sternly.

"Sorry."

"Joan," Ironwood addressed. "Or perhaps Jaune?"

"Joan," I said. "Jaune Arc is out being an idiot right now... I think around this time I was looking for a guy to forge my documents to get into Beacon."

"I'm sure he'll get in," Ozpin said with a small smile. "Now Joan, we have to commend you on the feat you accomplished. There is no way we could have secured the machinery without you. We are eternally grateful."

"You weren't suppose to get them," I admitted. "In my timeline you guys decided not to go after the machines. The Doctor made his own apparatus to transfer power from one to another, that one was for Aura, however."

"Did it work?" Polendina asked.

I tried to shrug. "I'm not sure. Amber was shot by an arrow a few seconds after it started. Pyrrha didn't seem any different, and Cinder got the rest of the Fall Maidenhood."

I was talking under the assumption that Ironwood or Qrow had already briefed the others on my situation. I really hoped they did, because I was aching all over.

"Joan, as you can tell we have many questions," Ozpin said. "Can you humor us?"

I took a deep breath and started to channel my Aura—it helped deal with my drowsiness.

"Yeah?"

"You know of us?"

I nodded. "Commander Ironwood took me into the fold pretty soon after the war began. As a general, my job was to go and protect the Maiden's while the others fought the White Fang. Honestly, I was pretty bad at it..."

"You beat her in the end," Ironwood commented.

"I got my ass kicked," I admitted. "She would have killed me if Ruby didn't get the drop on her. That bitch got a scythe through the chest—it was pretty fantastic now that I think about it."

"Cinder must have been strong to defeat your Semblance."

I groaned. "She was a fucking monster among monsters—and trust me, I fought Salem. Cinder took not only three Maiden's powers, but I think she got Salem's as well. That explains how she could control Grimm—since Salem had some sort of connection to them."

It was a shame that I only thought of that now. Salem was actually a pretty important person in the entire war, but my entire attention was always on Cinder. The most I thought about Salem was when I stabbed her with Crocea Mors.

"So has anything changed?"

"We have this funky machine now, so Amber may be more alive. Did you have a container before?"

"No."

"Then yes, the Fall Maidenhood had a better chance of being passed onto Pyrrha—if you decide you want to do it."

"Miss Nikos," Ozpin nodded slightly, "she's currently in the quarter-finals of the Mistral National Tournament. She's quite the superstar."

"She hates the fame and attention. All she wants to do is be a normal person and live a normal life. It's naive, but she's a smart girl, she'll realize that she'll never be normal eventually."

"The Beacon selection process is coming up, care to tell me some people who should get in?"

There it was again. There could be a person who dreamed every night of being a hunter, but gets his dream crushed because Jaune Arc faked his transcripts. I could stop so many people from accomplishing their goal in life...

"I get in, obviously. And I'm placed with Pyrrha, Ren and Nora. Pyrrha died early on, but us three were a great team, and I think we will be much better if she survives. There's Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. Ruby should stop a robbery of Roman Torchwick soon, but if she doesn't than my existence has caused more ripples than I thought. Blake is a former White Fang member who defects and tries to live a better life."

"The White Fang has been oddly quiet," Ironwood noted. "They're not even claiming responsibility for your actions—nobody wants to admit they took down Codex. That would make them enemy number one."

"That makes me the enemy then... at least give me a five second head start."

"Stop being dramatic," Qrow said. I flicked him off.

Glynda sighed at our antics... even future Jaune couldn't impress her.

"Anyways," I said, "Blake defects after a train robbery. She'll probably lay low for a while before entering as a walk on. Look for the black bow that's blatantly hiding cat ears."

"There has been rumors of a White Fang assault on a Schnee train," Ironwood said.

I smirked. "Perhaps I'll take a ride on one very soon."

"Anyone else to note?" Ozpin asked.

"Cardin Winchester was an absolute asshole for a while—he turns into a damn good man, though. Don't let the massive racism get to you, he'll come around. Oh, and Penny is fucking awesome... she's not in Beacon or anything, just saying it because she's really cool."

"She is!" Polendina smiled brightly. "She's about to be turned on soon!"

I smiled back. "She exceeds expectations. She transcends the boundaries of robots and truly becomes human. The issue is that you made a shit ton of robots like Penny during the war that went rogue and caused a robot civil war."

They stared... did I not mention that to Ironwood?

"Yup... Penny was one of a kind. I had to be a medium in peace talks between to robots! There was actually the issue of racism to robots—there was basically a White Fang for androids."

"Are you serious?"

"It's not the drugs talking," I insisted. "The future could be anything. It could be predictable, easy to guess... or it could be like someone gave a five year old acid and a paintbrush."

* * *

A day later my partner was allowed into my room.

"My sweet prince!" I called to her as she walked in. "Have doth cometh to release thee from... thy bonds!?"

"I hate you," she said as she sat down next to my bed... typical Winter.

"Do I get a medal now?" I asked. "I got shot by two snipers in one week, that's a new record isn't it?"

She handed me a piece of paper instead.

I read it. "Leave...?"

She nodded. "I placed a leave request for you, and it was approved."

"I'm in a hospital... isn't that already vacation?"

"No you dunce! It's for after you get out of the hospital." She huffed. "And you're staying in that bed for the entire allotted time! I made sure all of your nurses are old and hairy, so no flirting your way out now!"

"Well maybe I like them old and—"

"Don't finish that," she said dangerously.

I chuckled. "Got it, babe."

"I am NOT your babe!"

"It was a joke!"

"I will maim you! You... you cretin!"

"Now I want to escape..."

"I will have you tied up!"

"Bondage? Doth cometh onto thee!? Thy will—"

She hit me before I could finish.

* * *

Winter was skilled, she managed to keep me in the hospital for an entire week... of my three week healing period.

I didn't even go to Ironwood. I had a vacation and I was going to use it. The General probably knew where I was going, and I'm pretty sure he was fine with it.

Atlas was cold, I decided. It was really cold.

A bad place for cats...

I walked into a beat down hotel, giving a warm smile to the person at the counter as I approached.

"Hey there," I said to the pretty looking Faunus, she was young and blushed a little.

"Hello, care for a room?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm looking for a friend of mine, and I think she might be here."

The poor girl tensed a little. "Like... like who?"

I laughed. "No no! I mean no harm. Little Blake is not going to be hurt under my watch."

There was a second of silence... before she screamed.

"Run Blake!" she yelled as a shadow escaped from the basement and out the door.

I rolled my eyes—Blake was so paranoid.

Blake was fast, no doubt, but she was tired and hungry. I knew that when she was in a mission that she rarely ate or slept, and she just defected from the White Fang.

It was surprisingly easy to catch her. Maybe I was comparing her to future Blake, who could easily run circles around me.

I tackled her into the snow, desperately trying to calm down her riving body.

"Blake! Calm down!"

I turned her around and straddled her, noticing the absolute fear in her eyes.

It was odd, seeing her so young. I haven't been around someone who was my age yet. Qrow and Winter were already fully grown, so the differences wasn't that big—and Ozpin or Ironwood looked pretty much identical.

Blake seemed to notice something.

"You're... you're a human."

"Keen observation."

"W-what are you doing?"

I laughed. I never realized how blatantly awkward Blake was—she got a lot better in the future. I guess being raised in a cult really ruins the chance of being a social butterfly.

"Blake, I'm not in the White Fang, and I'm not trying to kill you."

"You're not?"

"Of course not! In fact, I took out the Barrage Squad or whatever their name was. Those assholes who kept blowing up children... fuckers."

"Then..." her eyes widened even more, "you're with the military!"

"Chill out!" I yelled as I held her hands down (the kitty has claws). "I'm not any threat to you!"

"Lie!"

"What wrong with you!? I came to offer you a spot at Beacon and you hate me!"

And like that the anger was gone. Blake stared at me with a completely perplexed expression.

"What did you say?" she asked.

I stopped holding her hands down, but continued to sit on top of her. "I'm here to offer you a spot in Beacon Academy, the one in Vale."

Her ears twitched.

"Why?"

"A really, REALLY close friend of mine had the last name Belladona, she was basically my family. I promised to keep her and her family safe—which includes you."

"All my family is dead," she said sadly, her ears flattening, "there's no way."

"The last time I saw my friend was over ten years ago." In the future, but she didn't have to know that. "She was a beautiful Faunus with black hair, glowing eyes and cat ears that she kept hidden with a bow. She looks exactly like you, I know you're the one related to her."

Genetically, they were the perfect match.

"Is she... dead?"

My expression fell. "Yes, she died saving a lot of people. Without her, perhaps the entire world would have been destroyed."

"R-really!?"

I decided to get off her. I extended my hand and helped her up. As she got up I pulled her into an embrace.

"I've met you before," I admitted as I held her. "I... I thought you were long gone, Blake. I thought everyone in our family was gone except me." I could feel her tense body in my grip. "I promise that this time, I will keep all of you safe."

"What... what do you mean?" she whispered.

"I let your... relative down. You aren't the only one, I let a lot of people down. I have a chance to fix my mistakes, however, and I'm not going to let it go to waste."

"Who are you?"

I released her and paused for a moment, thinking.

"...Joan. My name is Joan Arc, and I want to offer you a chance to enter Beacon Academy."

She stared up at me—when did Blake get so small?

"Are you serious?"

I smiled brightly. "Free of charge. All the fees will come straight from the government. All I want you to do in return is make friends and start over... live a life that will be filled with happiness."

"This can't be serious."

"Watch," I said happily. "Watch... all of you guys will be happy."

"And you?"

"I'm a jaded old man, lets talk about you instead." I started to walk away. "Come on, Blake. You still have some heat on you after that train heist, so we're gonna make a few stops before entering Beacon. You trust me?"

She nodded slowly.

I smiled, feeling my Semblance give me power.

* * *

"So why are we heading this way?" Blake asked from my side. "I don't like this train."

"Blake," I said blandly, "the only reason you don't like this train is because they don't have as many fish dishes as the last one."

"It's a valid reason."

"You stole the Ninja of Love book from the other train anyways. We would get in trouble if they found that."

She blushed and looked away. "How'd you know?" she whispered quietly.

"The other Belladona I knew, she did the exact same thing. I swear you guys are identical."

Blake's ears perked up at the mention of her mysterious 'relative'. I never gave her a full name, but I happily described her features and stories. It was funny to talk _about_ Blake _to_ Blake.

"Where did you get money for this train anyways?"

Damn, Blake was actually really talkative. She never talked this much in my timeline (at least to me. I heard from Yang that she actually had quite the potty mouth). She even had her book, but she still insisted on communicating with me.

"I do a lot of dangerous and classified things..." Blake leaned in closer, "that pay me nothing." I chuckled at her expression. "I really never spend any money, so I have pretty much my entire salary saved up."

"So why do you go dangerous missions? I don't see a reason."

"Blake," I smiled, "there are so many people in the world... so many. A lot of those people live blissful and ignorant lives, and kudos to them. I'm strong, I have the power to do many things. I want people to be happy—I want my loved ones to be happy. If I have to do dangerous and painful things to make my important people, and even people I don't know, happy, then I will."

She looked astonished. It seemed like, for the first time ever, Blake Belladona actually thought I was cool.

"For people you don't even know?" she asked quietly.

"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet," I told her. "There has been people that I hated, but when I finally got to know them and see the true colors... I realized that everyone has at least a little good inside of them."

Even Cinder Fall... she did help us take down Salem.

She was still a bitch, though, and I would still punch her without a second thought.

"Excuse me," a snotty voice said.

I looked up and saw an older lady (probably fifties) with what seemed like her family or friends (all people around her age, no children). They had one of the conductors with them.

"Hi," I said with a friendly tone.

"We were just wondering if... that _girl_ is with you." The venom in her tone wasn't unnoticed by anyone.

Blake looked down, but I placed a hand around her shoulder reassuringly.

"Yes she is, this is my protege, Blake Belladona... and I am—"

"Does she have a ticket?" she asked, cutting me off.

"Yes she does."

"Do you notice her ears?"

"Yes I do."

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Did you know that the White Fang attacked a train in Atlas a few days ago?"

"I heard."

"And yet you let her onto the train."

I could feel how tense Blake was, but I still laughed a little.

"Miss, I assure you that the White Fang and my polite little protege are not one in the same." I smiled cheerily. "I can understand your fear, but little Blake here is incapable of causing any trouble to you or this train."

I, on the other hand...

"Perhaps you should leave," she said sternly. "I think most of the passengers agree."

I looked behind me. This train was rather expensive, and the seats were filled with many older _human_ passengers. Leave it to me to pick a train filled with hardcore conservatives...

My pleasant smile held no indication to how _fucking angry_ I was. I stood up and looked at her as casually as I can, noticing the train's entire attention on me.

I pulled out my military ID and showed it to her.

"Miss, my name is Specialist Joan Arc of the Atlas Military Force." I noticed her eyes widen. "My partner is Specialist Winter Schnee and my immediate supervisor is General Ironwood. I was tasked by Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon to take young Blake to his school, where she will receive a full education on the government's dollar due to her immense talent. I just got out of the hospital after a horrible injury, and decided to take my ward to Mistral to alleviate the stress of both my injury and the pressure she feels for being a Faunus student on scholarship. Blake,"

I held my hand out to Blake and she took it, standing up next to me.

"Introduce yourself," I ordered.

"Hello Miss," she said with a small bow. "My name is Blake Belladona, a pleasure to meet you."

"Now that you have met my protege, you can see that she is not, indeed, the raging terrorist with a train fetish that you thought her to be. So, in honor of the taxes you pay to fund Blake's education, I must please ask you to shut your ugly fucking mouth before I must resort to violence. Because even verbal assault is considered assault, and I will defend both my safety and the safety of dear Blake here if I have to."

I sat down, Blake following my lead. I took a big sip of my drink before looking at the conductor.

"Excuse me, may you get us something to eat? Preferably fish."

He nodded hastily and left, as did the racist pricks.

There was silence between the two of us for a few minutes.

"Can you actually defend yourself from a verbal assault?"

I snorted. "Of course not. I can't smack that bitch for calling you a terrorist—she can say whatever she wants." I winked at her right as our food was set down. "It's her fault for believing me."

Blake smiled.

* * *

 _"Wrong will be right, when Blake comes into sight!"_

 _"Jaune, you better stop."_

 _"At the sound of her roar, smut will be hers!"_

 _"I don't care how tough this mission is. I will kill you and do it myself if you keep singing."_

 _"When she bares her teeth, fish becomes her feast!"_

 _"Stop it!"_

 _"And when she puts on her bow, her ears cannot be shown!"_

 _"That doesn't even make sense!"_

* * *

"She wore the exact same bow," I commented wistfully as Blake looked at the piece. "She originally wore it to hide her Faunus heritage, but grew attached to it. It became part of her image, a sign tha—"

"It's cute," Blake said simply, going over to the shopkeeper and handing it to him. "I'll take this one."

I stared, shocked. It took me a few moments to catch up with the situation before I paid the shopkeeper and we continued on our way.

"Did you... only buy the bow because it's cute?"

She shrugged. "There's this one outfit I got planned out for Beacon; I think the bow will go very well with it."

Was that it!? Did Blake only wear the bow because it was cute? There was no way... it was always a big emotional thing when she took it off in front of us. How did it go from an escape from reality to 'cute'!?

"Are you... going to wear it?" I asked.

She shrugged again and put it in her bag. "Wearing jeans is bad enough in this heat. I don't want my ears to sweat... and trust me, they'll sweat."

I nodded tightly and continued on our way. I stared at the streets of Mistral, taking in the atmosphere.

I never really got to witness what made Pyrrha so great. The reason she was called 'invincible' even though she clearly wasn't.

Honestly... I was ashamed to say that my memory of Pyrrha was skewed. I was without her for far longer than I was with her. I know literally everything about Ren and Nora, but Pyrrha? I didn't even remember the exact shade of her eyes, or her height. She was like a ghost that I once saw in a dream... a hazy memory.

So, why not go to the Mistral Regional Tournament? I had time off.

It was kinda spur of the moment. I was going to get Blake and take her to Vale, but she didn't have to try out for the school anymore, she has a scholarship. I might as well make her more comfortable around people before she gets thrown into a school with dramatic teenagers (I was sadly one of them).

"Who do you think will win?" Blake asked.

"Blake, the better question is who do _you_ think will win?"

"Huh? I asked first."

"But I'm your wise sensei, so you answer my question!"

She rolled her eyes, but there was some amusement in there.

"I heard that Pyrrha Nikos girl won the previous three, and has been tearing up the tournament this year. My guess is that she will win."

"Her semifinal match is going on right now, want to check it out?"

She nodded and we rushed to the stadium. I flashed my badge and tipped the bouncer a little extra an we were allowed into the stadium. To both our surprises we were being taken to the VIP section all the way at the top.

"Why is the VIP section at the top?" I asked as we stepped out of the elevator. "If anything, I want to be close to the action."

"It's so people can easily see you," a familiar voice chimed. "People who buy these seats do it not to have a great view, but to show status."

I scrunched my face up in confusion. "Winter, you and your rich quirks really confuse me sometimes."

Winter had a smile as she gave me a small embrace.

"Joan, you're suppose to be in the hospital." She was keeping a lid on for some reason, and the white hair behind her was probably why.

I chuckled. "Without you the doctors can do little to keep me down. All I have is another scar, another sign that my mission was a success."

Winter looked at Blake with a charming smile (that she definitely never used on me). "Hello there, Miss..."

"Blake Belladona."

"Hello Blake, I have never met you before." She looked at me. "Joan, who is she?"

"Winter, this is my... protege, Blake. Blake, meet my partner, Winter."

They both gave each other polite nods.

"Winter," a voice that actually made my heart jump said, "who are these people?"

"Weiss," Winter said as lovingly as she could (which was only for the image, because I know Winter hates being affectionate), "this is my partner, Joan Arc. I mentioned him before, haven't I?"

Weiss smiled at me. "All she said has been good," she insisted.

"Then she must be lying," I joked, "because I drive Winter crazy with my antics."

"Antics that work on the field," A gruffer voice said (great... more introductions). "You have met my daughters, it seems like it is my turn to be introduced."

I could feel Blake's shock next to me, and I really didn't blame her. I numbly shook the hands of Winter's father, the most powerful man in the entire Remnant.

This was unnatural. Both Weiss and Winter had falling outs with their father; it was the major driving force of Winter joining the military and Weiss joining Beacon. I knew they all loved each other, but they sure as hell weren't open enough about it to go to a event like this together.

"The constant damage you've been through has made me a bit... sentimental," Winter explained. "I realized how little time we could have and decided to spend some time with dear Weiss before she heads off to Beacon."

"Blake is, as well," I said pleasantly, my attention still on the head honcho. "Blake, perhaps you can talk to Weiss about Beacon. You can tell her the tips I gave you, help her out."

Luckily, both of the teenagers were smart enough to understand the situation and walked away. I glanced at them for a moment before turning back to Winter's father.

"As Winter said, you have made her quite sentimental. I have heard of some of your exploits, hidden or not, and I must say, bravo on what you have accomplished."

I smiled and gave him a polite nod. "Thank you. Though if it wasn't for the General or Winter, a lot of those missions would have been failures."

He turned around to the glass wall facing the stadium, glancing down at the battles happening below.

"Winter," he said, "can you arrange for us to go to another restaurant for dinner? I could have one of my assistants do it, but I think your word will sit better."

She nodded and walked away, knowing full well that it was an excuse to get her away.

I walked up next to him and stared at the battle below.

"I talk to James a lot," he admitted. "I knew him when I was a young lad. He and Ozpin used to sneak me out of the compound to do crazy shenanigans outside—I would have been half the man I am now without them."

"You all grew up to be in very prestigious positions."

He nodded. "We have. When James was injured, I feared for the life of one of my greatest friends. I threw insurmountable amounts of money in prosthetic research—money my father frowned upon. I am eternally grateful to Doctor Polendina. That man was nothing more than an upstart scientist with only his word, but his genius was palpable."

"I'm grateful to him as well. General Ironwood is a man that I have the greatest respect for."

"As do I." He looked directly into my eyes. "But it took all three of them to even get me to listen to a story about time travel."

Weiss trained me for years how to act in front of nobles. She was brutal with her teaching, my head still ached from every time she smacked me for picking the wrong fork, or eating at the long time.

But even with all her training, I still visibly jerked.

"Ah, your training in holding a conversation only goes so far. You are very good, but it is obvious you are not born a noble."

"Your daughter trained me very well..."

"How is she?" he asked, still watching the fights below. "My daughter, in the future."

"Weiss grew up into a fine young woman. She was incredible, to say the least. Her talent in swordsmanship was legendary, and her ability in Dust manipulation was matched by none. I remember hundreds of men asking for her hand in marriage, but she insisted that only a man that can best her in battle can take her hand in marriage—nobody could."

"I expected that," he said. "Both my daughters are rather rebellious, and I fear that their obstreperous behavior will only grow. It is not nice to know that my hunch is correct, but I am proud nonetheless."

I had no idea what obstreperous meant, but I assumed it was along the lines of rebellious.

"Joan, or would you prefer Jaune?"

"Joan. I abandoned my old world, so as penance I abandon my old name."

He nodded. "I see. Joan, did you ever battle my daughters for their hand in marriage?"

My eyes widened. "Oh no! I never tried to do that... my eyes were on another girl at that time."

"But now?"

I shook my head. "I have my mission. I am fully prepared to die if it means preventing the pain my loved ones will go through. A relationship is not a luxury I can afford—I am a man out of time."

"Commendable... but I must ask you for a favor."

"Anything," I said, surprised that the biggest man in the world wanted something from me.

"I ask that you survive. I fear my daughter Winter is becoming infatuated with you."

I stiffened.

"W-what?"

He glanced at me for only a moment. "You need to work on your etiquette. Winter is my first daughter, and I am not reasonable with my fortune when it comes to my children. She is used to getting what she wants... and if she wants you than there is little any of us can do."

"Surely you are mistaken..."

"Sometimes it is amusing how kids think they can outsmart their parents. After their mother died, I spent every moment I could molding them into women that can take the world in their palms and crush it. Perhaps, as a father, I was harsh or cold, but they still do not realize how many advantages they have in their own age group. I taught those girls everything they know—I can tell when one if feeling affection because I taught them what affection is."

That man was a business man... a business man through and through. He was a man who knew that time was money, and that money could mean a lot of different things. Money could be status, or love, or knowing what affection is. That man was a guy who was raised without a caring family and can only try to emulate emotions onto his children.

He truly deserves the Schnee fortune.

"I..." I took a deep breath, swallowing my pride with it, "it is clear that my intelligence is little compared to you. There's no point in putting on a professional front and try to match you—you are on a different level than those on Draco."

"Those kids on Draco do not understand value. Their ancestor's blood soaked the soil of the mainland to make those companies. They should have stayed in Atlas and honored them."

"I can safely assume that Ironwood or Ozpin asked you to be in the fold. I heard Qrow talking about using your influence to make our... little operation in Draco a lot easier."

"Yes, yes." He stroked his perfectly trimmed facial hair. "I am a business man, but I am not stupid enough to lump together strength and idiocy. Being able to infiltrate and steal from the most secure city in the Remnant means that you have more intelligence than you say."

"It was experience, if anything."

"You gain intelligence through experience, I see no flaw in my previous statement."

"Your answer?"

He looked at me, his blue eyes piercing into my soul.

"I am known for my... less than savory business actions. I am a man of business, I do things for my own good regardless and whether or not it is morally 'good' or 'bad'. So in order to join this group, I feel like I must make it profitable for me."

"You have enough money... so what is it you want?"

"I want my daughters to be happy. That is your goal too, is it not?"

"It is."

"You may not feel the same way, but Winter is undoubtedly falling for your charms. I will join your fold, allowing you full use of whatever resources I can access with my power and influence... if you take my daughter's hand in marriage."

I blinked.

* * *

"What do you think of Weiss?" I asked Blake after we exited the VIP booth. We were sitting down at a small shop, eating Ramen (not my personal favorite, but Blake was consuming it like it was water).

"She's nice," she said. "She was a lot more accepting of me being... well _me_ that I expected."

"Really?"

"Yeah, at the White Fang they used to talk about how horrible the Schnee family was, and how they would kill any Faunus without batting an eye. I just met all three of them at once, and they seemed... like a rich family that has to keep up appearances, not devils."

"Do you understand how petty the conflict between human and Faunus is now? Humans have these preconceived notions and Faunus have their own preconceived notions. If we all just took the time and actually looked deeper..."

"...then all of this pointless killing will stop." Blake sighed and looked at me. "Why is it that people like you are so rare? It seems like there are more people blinded by racism than people who are," she blushed, "great... like you."

If I was younger, I would have been jumping up and down... but I was an old man—she looked nothing but cute to me (the cute you call a little kid).

"You're a great person as well, Blake. You threw away your entire life because you refused to live in a lie—that takes courage that a thousand or those racist pricks don't even have combined."

"I uh... I'mgonnagodosomethingrightnow!" She dashed away, leaving me perplexed and with a bowl of half eaten ramen. I looked over to where she was sitting, she asked for seconds but didn't even touch it...

The shopkeeper looked at me before chuckling, "Teens."

I nodded. "I used to be one of them, yet I have no clue what goes on in their minds..."

The door to the shop slammed open and then slammed closed—the bell connected to it rambling. A girl stood there, placing her back against the door as she panted.

"You alright, miss?" the shopkeeper asked.

"Yes!" she said way too quickly. "I'm perfectly fine!"

She awkwardly walked over to the front and stared at the menu mounted on the wall.

"Hey kid," I said, drawing her attention, "that's some fancy armor you got, but does it have pockets for your wallet? Cause it seems pretty bare to me."

Hey eyes widened and she hastily started patting down her armor, reaching into pockets I didn't realize she had (and I lived with her). After a frantic minute, she sighed.

"I must have dropped it while running," she mutter dejectedly.

"Hey kid, my friend left an untouched bowl right here—it's all yours."

She gasped. "Really?"

I nodded. "If you want another flavor or more, just ask. I like helping kids out, makes me feel a little less old..."

"You're not old!" she proclaimed as she say down next to me, before blushing and calming down. "You look no older than twenty five."

"Close, I'm twenty eight."

"That's still really young," she insisted. "Compared to the average human lifespan, you're extremely young."

I looked at the shopkeeper, who looked back at me, before we both erupted into laughter.

"What?" she said, looking offended.

"Kid," I looked at her flatly, "that was the weirdest thing I have heard all week... and trust me, I've had an interesting week."

"Oh," she muttered with a blush.

"What's your name, kid?" I asked. "You look a bit too young to be wondering around alone."

She really didn't look that young. In fact, she could pass of as a few years older than she was (looking older was fine for teenagers, in fact, it was a a compliment to say she looked twenty or twenty one).

"I just turned seventeen," she refuted.

"Which compared to me, is young." I gave her a grin that dared her to fight back.

She blushed slightly and shrugged. "I guess... my name is Pyrrha, by the way. Pyrrha Nikos."

"That name," I muttered, noticing her wilting. "I've met a Nikos before."

"You have?"

"I have." I chuckled as I realized I was doing it again. I was doing the exact same thing with Blake. "The resemblance is striking, now that I look closely."

"Well I have my mother," she said. "But my dad died when I was very young, perhaps you knew him."

"Maybe..." I snorted in amusement. "So what's up in the life of Pyrrha? You watching the tournament?"

She stared at me, shocked. "You... you don't know?"

"What?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"I'm... I'm actually in the finals."

"Nice!" I patted her on the shoulder. "Mistral's regional tournament is a lot bigger than other nations, good for you."

"Yeah..." she muttered shyly.

"I was in a tournament once," I started, nostalgic. "It was fun until we found out it was all rigged and a crazy bitch sent a horde or Grimm into the city."

"What!?"

I laughed. "Good times... good times."

It really wasn't good times. But everyone was alive at that point, so it was good compared to the rest of the war.

"So why are you here?" she asked, staring longingly at my food (she had finished her own rather quickly). "That sword looks pretty impressive, as do those guns. Are you a scout?"

"Can she get another one? On me." The shopkeeper nodded and I looked back at her. "And no, I'm not scouting talent for a school. I got severely injured twice in a pretty short time frame, so my job gave me a vacation. I've never been to this tournament before, so I figured why not?"

"What do you do?" she asked, before her eyes widened. "Not to be intrusive!"

"It's fine," I reassured. "I work for the government, many governments. My immediate supervisor is General Ironwood, but I've worked for more than just Atlas. Atlas decided that I'm too good to keep within it's borders. I take down threats to the entirety of the Remnant, not just a single country."

"That's incredible! That means you are pretty strong, right?"

"Strong enough."

"How'd you get injured... I mean—"

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, trust me." I smiled at her, trying to be as disarming as possible. "This is all classified, but I recently got... promoted, in a way, so screw it. Around three weeks ago I got shot in the back by a high caliber sniper bullet at close range—it hurt like a bitch. Then, about two week ago, there was another mission that they needed me on... turns out I got shot by a similar rifle again! This time in the stomach!"

She looked skeptical.

"To far-fetched for you?"

"It's just, I don't think they would let you on another mission after being shot. Can I," her face matched her hair,"see it?"

I lifted my shirt slightly and showed my fresh scar.

"She's a nasty one, isn't she?" I lowered my shirt and noticed Pyrrha's expression. "Was that too gruesome for you?"

"No!" Her face flushed even more. "No!"

I chuckled. "That's the life of a Specialist, it seems. There are some things only I can do, and I don't want it any other way."

"But it's dangerous," she countered.

"Pyrrha, here's a good tip. Sometimes the best things in life are the things that are dangerous to attain... if it comes too easy than is it truly worth your time? The tougher route can be the most rewarding route, in my own experience. I get my ass kicked, but every scar I get is a reminder that I saved a life—that makes it better, doesn't it?"

She nodded slowly.

"That... that makes a lot more sense that I thought."

"You don't want to hear an old man ramble about life lessons, so let's focus on you. You ready for the finals? The pressure can be immense, but ignore the people who say to not let it get to you—use the pressure to exceed."

"I... I actually won the previous three tournaments," she admitted.

"Damn... well I must seem pretty stupid, don't I?"

"No you don't!" she yelled immediately. "It's so refreshing to talk to you. I... I can't go anywhere anymore. It's like everyone wants me for the title—not my true self."

"Pyrrha, when they look at you they see a successful, beautiful girl that has the entire world ahead of her. They see exactly what they dream about every night—being on top of the world."

I stopped talking, I wanted her to really absorb what I said. She was a good girl, just way too innocent for her standings. Maybe some deep thinking will help her... help her not die.

After around eleven years, more than a decade, it was surreal to see her again... and heartbreaking to know I was nothing more than a stranger.

I placed more money than necessary on the counter and patted Pyrrha's shoulder as I walked away.

"Good luck... oh, and your opponent Arslan is a hand-to-hand fighter. She doesn't have an ounce of metal on her body, so your Semblance won't do anything." I felt her stiffen and smirked as I left.

She snapped out of her thoughts as I exited the shop.

"Wait!" I could hear her cry. "What's your name!?"

* * *

 _"Hey Pyrrha."_

 _"Yeah Jaune?"_

 _"I heard this riddle from my grandfather. Wanna hear it?"_

 _"I'd love to."_

 _"This is a thing that is devours all things_ — _flowers, trees, beasts, birds... it bites steel, gnaws iron, grinds hard stone, beats mountains down, ruins towns and slays kings. What is it?"_

 _Pyrrha sat on the roof in silence, staring at the night sky in deep thought._

 _After a few minutes, "Have you figured out what it meant?"_

 _"No, I haven't. What's the answer?"_

 _A shrug. "I have no clue. That's why I asked you."_

 _She laughed, a genuine laugh that warmed the both of them._

 _They sat in silence._

 _"Hey Jaune."_

 _"Yeah Pyrrha?"_

 _"Is the answer 'time?'"_

 _He stared at her deeply, his blue eyes filled with emotion._

 _"Maybe... just maybe..."_

* * *

We didn't stay for the finals. Blake wanted to bet money on Pyrrha (the little kitty was quite the shark), but opted out when she realized that literally _everyone_ and their mothers were betting on redhead. The gain wasn't even enough to cover the hotel bill to stay an extra night, so we were gone the day before the finale.

We did say goodbye to the Schnee family. Blake and Weiss seemed on pretty good turns and Winter actually gave me a small hug to say goodbye (she did whisper in my ear that she would main me if I got hurt again... but it was still nice). I shook hands with Mr Schnee, thinking about our agreement the entire time.

A few hours later was when Blake's standards of me dropped.

"You were fine on the train," she said sadly, feeling empathetic for my entire situation.

"My Semblance helps deal with the motion sickness," I explained. "It's not at full power like it used to be—it's strong enough to deal with anything up to train."

"But not an aircraft." Her ears flattened against her head as she patted my back.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself.

"We could have taken a boat to Vale," Blake said. "I'm not sure why we're going to Patch instead of the mainland."

"There's a friend that saved my life very recently. In fact, it was a week before I met you. He was suppose to escape with a high value target, but instead he turned around into dangerous territory and dragged my bleeding body out of the ocean. He's a very good friend of mine, and he has a niece around your age that's entering Beacon."

"Really?" Her ears perked up.

I nodded. "I honestly think that you two will be good friends. That's another one of my reasons, I want you to have friends before you enter a place like Beacon for four years."

"You sound like a dad," she said quietly. "I don't know what they're like, but I think your close."

"Well someone has to watch out or you. You're cute and deserve better... what other reason do I need?"

We sat in silence for a while.

"Hey Joan?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. I really mean it. Thanks for picking me up and not arresting me, and then deciding to get me into a place like Beacon... I never expected this two weeks ago."

"It's my pleasure, Blake. And honestly? You're completely wrong with being thankful to me. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"For what?"

"You did a lot of things... but I'm the only person in the entire world that remembers any of it..."

* * *

"Land!" I cried happily. "Sweet land!"

Blake groaned in embarrassment at my antics as she dragged a few bags out of the Bullhead (I had a single bag, she had 3 and counting).

"Vomit Boy made it!" the familiar, shady voice of Qrow said. "Look at him! He's practically kissing the ground!"

"Go fu—" I noticed Ruby, Yang and Tai behind him, "—go screw yourself, Qrow! You're named after a bird but you can't even fly!"

"We were falling, not flying!"

"Is that an excuse?"

We looked at each other, before sharing a laugh and a manly embrace. I gave Tai a casual handshake as I ushered Blake in front of me.

"This is my little minion, Blake." The girl gave a polite (almost shy) nod. "I found her wandering the wilderness, lost. So I'm helping her get to Beacon where she'll hopefully stop wasting all my money."

"You're stupid," she muttered.

"The disrespect!" I yelled, aghast, as Qrow and Tai laughed. "I spend thousands on your train and fish fetishes! This is what you do to me!?"

She flushed. "Shut up!"

Tai placed a hand around Ruby's shoulder and led the shy girl towards us. Yang was normal enough to take the cue and follow her sister for introductions.

"Introduce yourself," Tai told his children.

"My name is Yang, it's very nice to meet you." I shuddered as she looked at me (like she was looking at those magazines she likes so much). "You seem like a very _nice_ guy, Joan! And Blake here seems like she needs a little more fun in her life—something I can deliver!"

Tai groaned at his daughter's horrible manners, but I laughed. It was so much more refreshing than talking to the Schnee's.

"Yang, if you can make Blake fun then I will forever be in your debt."

She smiled at me. "I'll hold you to—"

Qrow shoved her towards Blake and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "This is my smallest niece, Ruby."

"...hi," she said shyly.

I smiled warmly. "Qrow mentioned you."

"Did he?"

I nodded. "He said you're amazing with weapons. I heard you even made your own scythe."

She brightened, almost blinding me. "He did!? I did make my own scythe!" She pulled out her weapon, extending it. "This is Crescent Rose, my baby! I spent years designing the concept and building it cause uncle Qrow didn't want to help me!"

"He's an old man, they're mean." She giggled at Qrow's indignant yell. "And I can't really blame him. A weapon is a personification of yourself. Using a foreign weapon is tough at first—it won't truly be yours until you prove yourself."

"Wow!" Her eyes sparkled. "What's your weapon."

I grabbed the hilt of my sword, drawing the attention of many. The only one that had seen my weapon was Qrow, and that was only for a moment because I had to extend my shield to hit the Gipfel Building.

"This is... Atra Mors." Luckily, I was smart enough to modify the weapon soon after I came to this timeline—Crocea Mors was too distinctive for there to be two of them. The usual white of the shield was black, and the blue handle was now red. "A long, long time ago my family created two swords—Crocea Mors and Atra Mors. This sword has been with me for years, and has always had my back."'

"A classic," she breathed out.

"What about range?" Yang asked. "I mean, it's an impressive weapon to last so long, but what if you fight someone with a sniper rifle?"

Qrow seemed a little put off, probably because I was just shot by two snipers, but I smiled in response.

"That's kinda my weakness, I get shot by snipers a bit too much. Qrow was there for the last time..."

"Twice in one week," Qrow muttered. "You have a target painted on you."

I pulled out StormFlower and Ironwood's Revolver. "This is my range. This weapon," I held up Stormflower, "came from one of greatest friends. This other one came from my mentor. They got me out of a lot of tough jams."

I tossed StormFlower over to Ruby, who fawned over the design.

With my hand now free, I rose it and channeled some Aura into it. "I'm also decent at Pure Aura Manipulation, I can shoot projectiles, but nowhere near the range of a gun."

They all seemed pretty interested at how I could manipulate my life force. I flared it one more to make my hand glow before retracting the energy, making the few eyebrows lower with it.

"That's... so... COOL!" I chuckled at Ruby's enthusiasm.

"That's nothing," I dismissed. "I knew a girl who had super speed for her Semblance..."

"I have super speed for my Semblance!"

"Do you? Well, did you know that..."

* * *

 _Ruby leaned against me, as she always did when she needed comfort._

 _"Have you ever heard the story of Atlas?" I asked._

 _"No."_

 _"Ironwood told me this. This is the story from which the Atlas country gets its name. I'm not an author or poet, so get ready for the Jaune Arc shit version."_

 _She giggled._

 _"There was once a guy. Good, bad, it doesn't matter. He pissed off something supernatural and was forced to carry the entire world on his shoulders as punishment."_

 _"That sounds... rough."_

 _"It is, but think of this—everyday for the rest of eternity Atlas must carry the entire planet on his shoulder. Why is it that Atlas doesn't just give up? Why can't he just drop the world and let everything end?"_

 _"I'm not sure."_

 _"Sometimes I can feel my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I carry on my shoulders. It hurts, it really fucking hurts. But Atlas never lowered the world from his shoulders, so why should I?"_

* * *

"You're traveling a lot. You a pop star on tour or something?" Qrow asked as we sat on the beach (even seventeen year old Yang was scary enough to make me do things). I shrugged, grimacing as the sun messed with my fresh scar.

"Winter made me take a vacation, so I figured I would go around and see how much has changed."

"You picked up a kid."

Another shrug. "Eh... kinda just happened."

"You're changing the timeline by making all these kids meet each other." Qrow watched as Yang tried to force Blake into the water, which the hidden Faunus desperately tried to avoid. "They might even find different teams in Beacon."

"Ozpin knows what the teams should be. That guy loves playing puppet master... I have no clue how Glynda can deal with him."

"Insane geniuses can be very good or very bad. We somehow got both Oz and Polendina... you hear about the robots?"

I flopped onto my back, feeling my scar from the White Fang ache as I did.

"Penny's pretty fantastic," I said lazily. "Her siblings, however, really needed a reality check. Not that I'm a robot racist... it's just that I went through an entire fucking ordeal that I don't want to go through ever again."

"You're from a fucked up time. I can't even imagine the crazy shit that will never happen."

"As living creatures, we're constantly changing. There was suppose to be a trend where all the kids tied a bandanna or scarf around their arm or leg, but now it's nowhere near as big as my old time."

"Maybe you can bet on things—make a shit ton of money."

"The future isn't set in stone, and besides, that's messed up and you know it."

"Joan!" Blake ran up to me and stood beside me. "I do NOT want to swim! Make Yang stop!"

I looked at Qrow, who looked back at me. They were seventeen... right?

"Come one Blakey!" Yang cackled mischievously. "You know you want to!"

I sighed and shook my head. "Blake, I'm too old and haggard to deal with your issues. Go fight it out with a thumb war or something..."

"You don't look old and haggard to me," Yang commented blatantly (when you looked as good as she did, you could be blatant). "Where'd you get those battle wounds, soldier?"

I pointed to my newest one. "I had to run distraction for your dear uncle here, got shot." I touched another bigger one on my chest. "Got an arrow to the lower trachea, which is fine since it was suppose to hit my heart. This one did hit my heart, got hit by an icicle."

"An icicle?"

"Yeah... an icicle." I flipped onto my stomach. "The one that's still fresh was from a sniper during a raid on a White Fang base. I have a Lichtenberg mark on my shoulder going down my back, you get those if you get struck dead on by lightening—I can't believe I only have one. There's a few other bullet wounds and stab marks... oh and the burns... I got some burns."

"Your arm," Blake noted.

"Which one?"

"The one that's real. That has a massive burn."

Yang raised an eyebrow and leaned in closer to look at my prosthetic.

I rolled onto my back. "My real arm is burned from fighting a fire user, she burned it pretty badly but it still works. My left arm is a prosthetic, I lost the real one a few years ago."

"You..." Ruby was at my side in an instant. "You have a robot arm!?"

"It's an arm, that's robotic," I said. "It doesn't have a missile launcher built in or anything. I could have gotten a tricked out arm with a bunch of gadgets, but I wouldn't be able to channel Aura into it. It would be bad if my arm gets torn off blocking something because I couldn't reinforce it."

"That's still really cool! Uncle Qrow and dad barely have any scars!"

"That means they're good at what they do. I have all this damage because I wasn't fast enough or strong enough... but a lot of them are proof of a mission completed."

"Wow... that's deep." Yang looked impressed. "You're pretty young, as well. What are you, twenty six?"

"Eight."

"You've done a lot in just a decade more than me..."

"Trust me," I assured, "you'll do a lot of crazy shit in your time. There's this feeling—the constant need for the adrenaline rush. Once you get it you're doomed to live the life of a Huntsman until you find an anchor."

"An anchor?"

"You guys," Tai said as he appeared with a cooler. "You two are my anchors. I stopped all the crazy shit once I first laid eyes on you—I couldn't dare to leave you two alone."

His words hit hard, probably because both of their mothers were gone.

"Hey Blake," I said, breaking the silence, "you like it here?"

"It's nice."

"Good." I stood up. "Because you're staying here."

"What!?"

I dusted some sand off my body. "I have to make one more stop, but I can't take you with me. The reason we came to Patch was so you can stay with these guys until Beacon starts up."

"B-but..." her eyes widened in alarm. "No! You can't just leave!"

"I'm not leaving forever," I insisted. "There's just... some things that I have to do alone. I was suppose to give you your scholarship and be on my way, but I decided to travel with you because you were alone. You don't need me, and I can't afford to have you with me right now."

She glared and dashed away.

"Ah well," I muttered as I looked at Tai and Qrow. "Take care of her."

"We will."

"Oh, and she really likes fish... that'll break the ice real quick."

* * *

The city of Vale was divided into many parts. There was the Industrial District, Residential District, Commercial, Upper Class, and finally, my destination, the Agriculture District.

The southern part of the city was where the Industrial and Agricultural Districts were, which basically meant it was the poorest part of the city (which wasn't that poor compared to the rest of the Remnant).

The Arc family didn't live in the Agricultural District because they were poor. They lived there because living in the city with eight children was a bad idea—financially, legally and mentally.

My family was actually pretty well off. My great-great grandfather acquired a lot of war bonds during the Great War, and saved them long enough to make my grandparents decently wealthy. Our house was actually near the size of the average high-class home in northern Vale—just without things like a fountain or a tennis court.

We had ten acres of land that wasn't for agriculture—it was just for the family. I remember running around the wide, Grimm-less forests with my sisters... those were truly the days.

It was a walk to get to the front door. I had to go across an entire acre of land before I was within a reasonable distance to the house. I could hear the sound of a bustling family from far away. This was the time when my older siblings took vacations from their jobs, because school was out and everyone was home. I smiled as the smell of my mothers cooking flooded my nose—nostalgia.

I knocked on the door.

"Not it!"

"Not it!"

"Nose goes!"

"What—no!?"

"Jaune's it!"

"You didn't touch your nose!"

Were we actually like that?

I could hear my younger counterpart grumbling as he approached the door.

This was it... this was the moment...

Jaune Arc was about to meet Jaune Arc.

I was about to see everything I was fighting for... the innocence I wanted to preserve.

The door opened.

"Hello...?" Jaune's eyes widened.

"Hey there," I said. "We really do look alike."

Jaune stared. "Mom!" he called after a few moments. "Mom, I'm at the door!"

"I know you're at the door!" I heard my mother say, making me smirk. "Who is it?"

"Mom... it's me! I'm at the door!"

"Jaune! Stop messing around!"

"No really," I said. "Jaune's confusion is not unfounded."

I saw my mother peak her head around the corner, before gasping.

"Jac... come here!"

It took a few moments for my dad to come over, but when he did... damn, when did something get in my eyes?

Jacques Arc. My father who died while holding off Cinder with his platoon while everyone else escaped. I still remember him leading his troops into battle while all of our aircrafts flew away.

But none of that happened yet, so here he was.

"Mr Arc," I greeted. "My name is Joan Arc, and I've been meaning to meet you and your family for a while."

He stared.

"Do you... want dinner?"

I smiled.

* * *

"So you're related to us?"

I nodded. "Yes, Julia, I'm related to you. We're cousins, pretty far apart from my knowledge." The younger girl (eleven) nodded and continued to bounce in her chair—she was always filled with energy.

"You look a lot like Jaune, so it can't be that far," my mother, Isabelle, said.

"I don't like your name." I glanced at Joanna, who was twenty one. "It's too similar to mine... in fact I'm pretty sure it's a girls name."

"Jo!" my father yelled.

"It's fine," I insisted. "My part of the family was exactly like this, similar size and everything... this is a good reminder."

"So how are you an Arc? Not to be offensive in any way." Lucillia, the twenty five year old, asked.

"You guys know Julius, the original owner of Crocea Mors?" There were nods. "He had a sister, Joan. The stories said she died, but she actually disagreed with the family politics and moved away. She started her own family that lived in relative seclusion. A Grimm attack left me alone, so I've been by myself for a while."

"That's horrible!" my mother cried. "It must have been so difficult."

I shrugged. "I threw myself into my work. I've been keeping myself busy, it helps a lot."

"What do you do?" my father asked.

"Oh, did I not say?" I pulled out my military ID. "I'm Specialist Joan Arc, I work directly under General Ironwood."

Julia choked on her drink.

"You alright, kid?"

She nodded hastily.

"Specialist," my father muttered. "What do you do?"

"Ironwood has a lot of things he wants to do," I explained, "but politics keeps him indoors. I do anything he asks of me—a lot of which is dealing with international threats."

"Like the White Fang," June commented.

"Juney's right, the White Fang has been the center of a lot of my missions. But don't assume that they're the only threats to the Remnant. I have to deal with a lot more threats than people realize—nipping a lot of issues at the bud."

"Like the attack at Codex?" Andrea (nineteen) asked.

I nodded. "I was directly involved with that attack."

"So what happened there?"

I paused, obviously thinking.

"I'll try to give you as much none-classified information as possible." She nodded. "The attack was made by two humans, both of which didn't realize that they were shutting down the entire internet. The news clips were modified by the government, but I can tell you that the man having a joyride through the city was shot, but survived. He was a distraction for the other assailant—but they were both taken to a government base."

That was exactly what happened... just without mentioning that it was a government sanctioned mission and that I was the one shot.

"Why would they do that?" Jaune asked, somewhat angry. "There's no reason for them to try and ruin things."

"Some people just want to watch the world burn," I said, practically seeing Cinder in front of me. "Those are the most dangerous of people—the ones that normal people can't fully understand."

He nodded, probably not taking my words to heart (I know how he thinks).

"That's the reason you came here, right? Something happened on that mission."

"Yes, Lucy," I said to Lucille, "I got injured during that mission, and I was already injured from a previous mission a few days prior. Ironwood decided to give me a vacation, but I don't like not working. Headmaster Ozpin asked me to run some recruiting for him, which gave me enough courage to come here to meet you guys."

They all froze... it was actually amusing how similar we all were.

"Recruiting?" my father asked.

I looked at my younger counterpart. "Jaune, how would you like to enter Beacon Academy—free of charge."

"I... I uh... wha?" I chuckled at... at, well, _my_ stuttering. Jaune looked shellshocked.

"He has no combat training," my mother said.

"I had no combat training when I entered combat school," I said with a shrug. "In fact, I faked my transcripts and didn't even know how to properly swing my sword."

"Really?" Jaune seemed hopeful.

"I was rejected from a primary school for having 'absolutely no aptitude for being a Huntsman', but I was just a late bloomer. Jaune's a bit scrawny, but still has the build of an impressive fighter. I also noticed his eyes—they're a lot sharper than people give him credit for."

Jaune blushed and looked down.

"Are you sure?" Jacques looked at me deeply. "My children mean a lot to me..."

"I'll train him myself," I insisted. "There is two weeks until Beacon officially starts. Beacon preaches teamwork, so Jaune can make it through initiation with two weeks of training—he'll have a team to back him up until he's at an adequate level."

I looked at myself.

"But only if you want to, Jaune. This is all up to you."

Instantly, he nodded.

"I want this."

* * *

"Ah my—FUCK!" I poked Jaune's cheek with my foot.

"No swearing, your sisters are watching."

"You... you stabbed me in the shoulder!" It was actually quite amusing how he could talk shit while pinned to the ground by his own weapon.

I smirked. "You're the one who wanted to go from sticks to actual weapons... this is what you get."

"You stabbed me!"

I pulled Crocea Mors out of him and let it fall to the ground. "I got stabbed in the shoulder a shit ton. I had a particular mentor who would do it just for fun."

"That's exactly what you're doing!"

"Get up," I insisted. "We're going to keep going."

"You stabbed me!"

"I got shot in the middle of battle, but still had to keep fighting. You need to learn that the battle is never over until it's over. The world's not going stop because little Jauney has a boo-boo, will it?"

"No," he muttered.

"Than lets keep going!"

Pyrrha could unlock his Aura—that wasn't my job. My job was to make him tough and Aura made people soft. Ruby could barely take hits without her Aura because she had it since she was a little girl—she wasn't conditioned to fight without it.

I was teaching Jaune how to fight without his Aura, so when he did unlock it he would only have another tool in his arsenal and not a necessity to survive. Aura was a crutch that people became dependent on—even I used my Aura too much.

I kicked Jaune in the ankle, making him falter as I grabbed the blade of Crocea Mors from his grip.

"Don't stab me!" he pleaded.

"Don't be disarmed so easily!" I yelled at him. "Whenever you get hit it ruins your concentration, so we're gonna go hand to hand in order to grow some pain tolerance."

He stared at me, wide eyed.

I cracked my knuckles.

"Let's go, kid."

* * *

"You're going hard on him," Jacques commented.

I shrugged as I watched Jaune cover his eye with an ice pack. "I have to be kinesthetic with the time frame we have. I want to hammer the basics into his muscle memory—he can learn the more flashy moves at Beacon."

He nodded. "That sword you have, it's the sister sword to Crocea?"

"I'd prefer to say brother sword, mine looks a lot manlier."

"The black does look cool," he admitted. "Makes the yellow Arc symbol on the shield pop."

"Yeah it does." Jaune hobbled towards the kitchen table, where we were, and sat down heavily. His head fell onto the table and he started to snore rather loudly—a lot louder than I did at his age.

Well... I never worked that hard at his age.

"Jaune, put your head up." Jane, the eldest child of the Arc family at twenty seven, grabbed Jaune by the hair and lifted his head up. "It's unbecoming of a lady to have poor manners."

"I'm not a lady..." he groaned.

"You aren't? I seemed to have forgotten."

I laughed, as did Jacques. Jaune crossed his arms and glared at his sister as he waited for dinner to be served.

It took around fifteen minutes for all the children to be assemble—I could have sworn it took at least thirty in my time. I smiled as I listened to the six different conversations between ten different people... I had forgotten how blissful this was.

This was home. For the longest time, my home was a the safest position in the ground or the nearest base. I used to sleep in tanks while they weren't being used—only to wake up being driven into battle. My meals were laid in the dirt and divided, because I wanted to give my men part of my rations in order to build morale. My water was sometimes soaked in my own blood—but I didn't care at all.

The world was so peaceful, so clear. The haze that was war was just gone from the world—it was unnatural and wonderful at the same time. I could take a deep breath and smell fresh air and good food... not vehicle emissions and dead bodies.

Who fucked over Cinder Fall enough to make her ruin such a beautiful world? Nobody ever asked _why_ Cinder wanted to take over the world... we all just assumed she was a crazy bitch.

Maybe she was. Who knew? It would take an ungodly large chip on my shoulder in order to make me attempt to destroy the world. A chip that would be larger than my entire body, personally.

It was probably ambition. There's only one person, ever, who had enough ambition to successfully take over the world... and I killed her once.

"Joan?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, Jacquelyn?" I looked at the nineteen year old twin.

"What are you doing after Jaune goes to Beacon?"

I shrugged. "I'll have to call Ironwood, but he has me on a very loose leash. My guess is that I'll head over to Beacon and do some jobs for Ozpin. The White Fang has been the most active in Vale recently."

"That'd be so cool!" Jaune roared, mouth full of food.

"Manners!"

Multiple hands smashed into Jaune's head.

* * *

It was time. In a days time was when the new term of Beacon, and my story, officially began. This signified the beginning of the end—this was where Cinder's plans started to approach their final phases.

We were running interference. Atlas was unofficially at war with the White Fang, which was a lot different than my timeline. The power of the terrorist group was a lot lower than the original time, not that they knew it.

Plus, with the combined efforts of the Atlas military and the Schnee Dust Company, the severity of stealing Dust has been increased world wide. Roman Torchwick's job will be a lot more complicated when stealing a gram of Dust can warrant a sending a SWAT team.

Mistral was a political shit storm, so locking Cinder out of Haven was impossible. There were too many people with too much power over there—many of which could not say no to a beautiful woman.

But once she infiltrated Beacon... then she would be in our trap.

"Do you have to leave?" Jaune whined as I stood in front of the house. "You can just come with me when the term starts."

"We'd love to have you for one more day," Isabelle insisted.

I shook my head. "I would love to stay, but my vacation has been unnaturally long for the position I have. It's absurd that I basically got a month off—especially when they all know I healed within a few days."

"You'll still be in Vale, though, right?" I smiled at Julia (I'd always liked the little devil the most).

"Of course, kiddo. One call and I can be here in a few minutes—less than a minute if you say please."

"Good luck Joan."

"I'll see you... Jaune."

* * *

 **Authors note: A lot of those italicized flashbacks were based off books. The first one was from Don Quixote, and there's Narnia (the Blake song), LoTR and Alice (the whole riddle bit), a book that I can't remember right now and another book that I didn't read, but a friend mentioned the quote to me and I liked it.**


	5. Joan's Adventures in Beacon

**Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"Would you tell me, please, which way we ought to go from here?" Jaune asked._

 _"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Maiden._

 _'I don't care where_ — _"_

 _"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."_

 _"_ — _as long as we get SOMEWHERE," Jaune added as an explanation, "preferably away from here."_

 _"Don't worry," said the Maiden, "you'll always make it 'somewhere' if you walk far enough."_

 _Jaune stared at her before sighing deeply._

* * *

 **Joan's Adventures in Beacon**

* * *

"It's busy," I noted.

"We need to prepare for the oncoming students," Ozpin explained, taking a sip of coffee as he watched the stream of workers prance around the school. "The oncoming Freshman are always rather... lively."

I remembered my first night a Beacon.

"Lively is definitely a way to describe it."

"Every ten years we buy new sleeping bags for the first night. This year is the ninth year, so we must make sure that they are clean and the bad ones are gone, just to make sure no student gets sick the day before initiation."

"Wait... I slept in nine years of filth?"

"We wash them."

"How well?"

"Do you see our staff?"

"I see enough staff to run a school tightly. Tight enough that hand washing a sleeping bag is impossible."

"We have a hose and eleven months... they take around a month to fully get all the water out."

"Mine was wet during my first night. They said I either pissed myself or I was hallucinating..."

"As you said, tight."

I scoffed. Ozpin ran a madhouse, and he was the head clown in charge. That guy was a looney, but a damn good leader and a powerful ally.

"So Ozzy, what's the deal with me?"

He started to walk, I followed. "Atlas 'loaned' you to Vale to help deal with the White Fang, which fits our agenda just fine. Cinder is using the White Fang for her plans, we're forced to deal with them. Combined, both James and I have enough influence to keep you based here. The government is fine with me watching you—if anything they're excited to have a Huntsman like you around the students."

"Did Qrow mentioned how I was passed out with a comatose grandmother?"

"That aside, they're excited."

"I'm not teaching, Ozpin."

"I'm offering you a place to stay, free of charge."

"I don't care. I fight humans, not Grimm."

"Perhaps we can open a Human Combat class due to the ever growing threat of terrorism?"

I rolled my eyes. "I actually have to do missions, not teach. Besides, that would be a political shit storm and you know it. School funding would be difficult if the government found out you're teaching temperamental teenagers how to kill."

Ozpin sighed dramatically. "Politics, oh how I love it and hate it at the same time."

"That's the only reason you're Headmaster, because we all know Glynda is the one hat keeps this school from falling apart—both literally and figuratively."

We looked over and saw Glynda walking down the halls with giant boxes floating behind her. She looked grumpy (as always) as she walked over to the kitchen and stormed out.

"She's quite the woman," Ozpin remarked.

"Quite the scary woman."

"Indeed she is."

* * *

There was actually a section of the school with bigger rooms than the ones the first years got. At first I was a bit upset—I clearly remembered how lucky RWBY was for having a unisex room, cause my hormones went crazy being so close to the ever beautiful Pyrrha, and Nora (when her craziness wasn't a turn off). How did Ren keep so calm...

It was for upperclassman and special cases, I found out. At the end of every year there was a tournament for each year, the winner getting a bigger room for their next year (except final years, they get a cash prize). Team CFVY had won their freshman year, which I never realized.

I had an entire room for just me. Which wasn't in the staff section (fucking Ozpin, it smelled of sweaty teenagers here), but in the upper class section. My room was actually right next to the venerable CFVY.

"So you're not a student?"

I looked at Yatsuhashi blandly, as did Coco. "Yats, look at him, he's twenty eight. Just take our word Fox, he's old enough to be our teacher."

"That's the only reason I'm bunked next to you," I said as I lifted a box (probably filled with Coco's clothes) into their room. "Ozpin asked me to teach here, and I refused. I think that's the only reason I'm living in the student section..."

"Those teacher rooms are nice," Coco said as she watched (why would she _ever_ lift her own clothes?). "I had a friend who graduated this place. Peach sent her to get a specimen during a lecture, she got to see what they're like. Massive and high tech, from what I hear."

"It doesn't even matter, I guess. I doubt I'm gonna be in the room much anyways. My job usually keeps my pretty busy."

"What do you do?" Velvet asked. Finally, I thought she might have been mute in this timeline.

"Government. I'm here to help with the White Fang."

"At Beacon?" Coco asked.

"In Vale, but I'm pretty good friends with Oz and he wants me near by. Glynda also thinks my presence will help get Ozzy's head out of the clouds."

Coco looked at me, which felt strange without her usual sunglasses (she wasn't wearing the same outfit from when I met her, she was most likely waiting till school started). "Or maybe Glynda likes what she sees. You look pretty good, I have to admit. I'm not feeling the white, but all in all you're pretty sharp."

I frowned slightly. "My Aura is white, so I figured I can pull it off." I was wearing a white button up, along with my black pants and shoes. I really did look like a staff member, or a formal student.

"You don't look bad," she insisted. "I think you're rather delectable."

"I'm sure my fiancee does as well," I shot back. "Sorry Coco, taken."

She huffed in faux anger. "That's a shame. A good looking guy moving next door—you have to ruin the movie and be taken, don't you?"

"Doesn't the whole forbidden love shit make the movie better? I grew up with a lot of sisters, so I know how a chick flick works."

"You're right, but I'm not about that. I prefer action movies."

I chuckled, we were pretty good friends in the future.

"I'm sure you do."

* * *

The Freshman class was actually a lot bigger than I thought. There were so many faces I recognized from the war that I never realized came from Beacon. I saw some good people that I didn't meet until years into the future.

It was probably because of Beacon's schedule. The staff size was rather small, so each teacher taught a specific group of students on specific days. My group of teachers taught my group and maybe another group, while there were other teachers for first years that I haven't even met.

Beacon was the most selective of the big Hunter schools. The staff and student size was a lot smaller than Shade or Haven (again, Haven was a shitstorm). They had a very tight schedule, which was why the teachers were brutal towards tardy students.

The scariest thing I ever experienced was Glynda when she caught a student skipping class...

I completely forgot what ship I took into Beacon on my own first day. If it was any similar between timelines, however, than it would be simple to notice the kid running out of an aircraft and throwing up into the nearest trashcan.

Hopefully I could save Jaune from being Vomit Boy. I was already cursed with it (stupid Qrow), but there was hope...

Actually no! I hope Jaune becomes Vomit Boy for his entire damn life! He needs to endure the embarrassment I went through (it builds character)!

The pain I had too go through with that damn nickname... he had to feel it.

My memory jolted as a behemoth of an airship pulled into Beacon's docks. I remembered that airship. I spent at least half an hour staring at it in fear when I was seventeen. I was fully aware of my motion sickness and knew that if I couldn't conquer it than Beacon would be a waste. The money I paid for my fake transcripts was also a pretty good reason as well—good fakes were expensive.

I wasn't helping the staff (they were rushing around setting up classrooms, how unprepared are they?), but managed to deflect their glares by saying I was making sure no kids got lost. They didn't question how good my sense of direction was after being at Beacon for a day (according to them, at least), which was nice.

It was truly surreal to walk down Beacon's halls again. Everything in my situation was surreal, everything was so... high definition, in a way. That was the best way to describe it. I was so _aware_ of how wonderful everything was and how all these things should be gone. I guess the best term was that I was a sappy, sentimental bag of nostalgia.

Well... I've always been pretty nostalgic. Winter's face when I traced a scar on her face that wasn't there yet... the bruises I had were gone, but she's still pretty flustered.

I was a stupid, little kid when I entered Beacon. The massive halls didn't feel as big now. In fact, I never felt so secure inside of a building before—despite the fact I saw this building crumble.

It was hope... what the fuck was it doing in me? I was a good leader, and could honestly say that I never looked into a battle and say 'I can't win' or something. Yet the grim realization that the war was fully in Cinder's favor was always present in my mind. Ruby was the only reason I could even function somewhat successfully, and that was because she had hope to spare.

I didn't have Ruby, yet I felt more confident than ever before.

If she could see this... I wish she had this chance more than I did. Cinder would be dead and the White Fang would be a peace loving anti-pollution organization if Ruby had gotten the second chance—it was just her style... her charm.

Plus she deserved it more than I did. I was a bitter old man who did jack-all in the war, in my own opinion. Ruby was wonderful, truly wonderful. I loved everything about her, and she somehow loved me despite my many flaws. It physically hurt to know that this Ruby will never be exactly the same as my Ruby—that even my little rendevouz with her on Patch completely changed her development.

Ruby would still be great—it was in her genes. There was no reason to be bitter, I could never have her back and I knew it... ten years was too long for me, and I would be treating the new Ruby like the old one. Mixing memories between the two of them would be horrible for both the alive Ruby and the memory of the old one. I would, however, beat the brains out of anyone who tried to hurt her. If anything less than the perfect person came onto her...

I'll make sure she's happy. She, without her knowledge, made me the happiest man on the entire Remnant. It was my turn to repay her in another life.

Speak of the devil, or reaper, and she shall come, I suppose. I had to wipe away all the stupid memories as I watched her step out of the airship. It was from far away, and both of the sisters didn't notice me as they marveled at the majestic school.

Jaune was probably stumbling around in the ship still puking—it was what happened to me. I wanted to see him, but the issue was that I didn't want to ruin the connections he should make.

What if I stopped him from impressing Pyrrha? That would be bad, very bad. Jaune was better than I was at his age, but initiation was a beast he still couldn't handle. Pyrrha had saved my ass without a doubt, and needed to pull through again.

Would there be a team of three if he died? I had no idea if people failed the initiation, but surely not. Beacon ran on teams of four, if someone failed, or died in Jaune's case, what would happen? What if there were 34 (I had no clue what the actual amount was) people who passed? That left two people by themselves. Did Ozpin cut them? Or did they become a team on their own?

Actually, Ozpin _was_ a manipulative bastard. He probably studied the combat skills of all of students and tailored the forest to make optimal teams. I had to go through a small combat exercise before entering Beacon (that I did shit on, but somehow got in). With the scholarship I gave my younger self, all Ozpin had on Jaune's skill was my current skill level.

... Jaune needed Pyrrha badly.

I was in a window above the courtyard, so I had a pretty good view of the entire new class.

The first meeting between Ruby and Weiss almost brought tears to my eyes. I remembered all the times they would drunkenly recite how explosive and random their meeting was, and seeing it in the flesh was pretty amusing.

According to Ruby, Yang ditched her to talk to her friends from Signal, but I didn't see Yang doing any talking. She looked really awkward, shy even, as she shuffled around nervously before entering the bathroom.

I knew that she didn't have many friends despite her big personality and her big... well... yeah. She was the product of team STRQ (I always called it Stroke instead of Stark, which Qrow agreed upon fully), a team of people as recluse as they were eccentric. The overprotective Tai was the most social of the people who raised Yang, and he was special in his own way (he shoved his dog into a tube and sent it in the mail).

Summer? Shy and unbelievably strange. Raven? MILF gone mad. Qrow? A drunk fucker.

Yang was genetically made to be strange. Ruby didn't fair any better, either, with her silver eyes and all.

"Ruby's an airhead," I heard from right behind me.

There she was.

"She's a good kid despite her obvious awkwardness," I replied. "It's Tai's fault. That man is so overprotective of his children. The only reason Yang has her bike was because Qrow got it in secret and Tai was too soft to return it."

"Qrow seems overprotective as well."

"But he drinks, so he has some hope."

Blake walked right next to me, perhaps too close, and stared out the window as well. "I feel bad for Ruby, being yelled at by Weiss, but she'll be fine... I think."

"How did you get up here? The doors from the courtyard are locked to prevent newbies from wandering off."

"I don't like crowds," she said simply.

"So you jumped out of the airship, had a parachute and managed to detach it in time to slide through a small gap in the window behind me." I nodded slowly. "You ninja kitties are really improving."

I could see her small smile from the corner of my eye.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. I had no idea if she was angry at me for ditching her, but she seemed pretty nonchalant (but when did she didn't?).

"I told you I was going to see you again," I said, "I was sent to Vale to do some jobs for them. Ozpin offered to give me a place to stay."

"How nice of him."

"Nice... definitely." My sarcasm was palpable. "He wanted me to work here but I refused, so I think my rent is about to be massive."

"I'll help you pay," she offered.

"Sorry, kitten, but I don't think your team will allow an old man to bunk with them. The rooms you guys get are small enough to begin with."

"I'm wearing my bow."

"I can see that, it's pretty cute."

She blushed. "Don't mention my ears."

"Is calling you 'kitten' mentioning your ears?"

"It's referring to them, so yes."

"How? I'm only referring to your Faunus heritage."

"But without my ears..." she trailed off.

I looked at her with a bright smile. "Without your ears you're basically a human. Do you see, Blake? There is racism over things so superficial like ears or a tail. If you look deeply, there is no major difference between the two races."

She looked down. "How do you always turn our conversations into lessons?"

"I'm a certified badass, that's how. I got a brand and everything."

"Show me."

"It was on my left arm... I left it on the ground somewhere."

She glared at me. "That's not funny."

I sighed. "Why are cripple jokes always too far? I'm making fun of myself!"

"It's stupid."

"Well I think it's a good one. I'm gonna save that for later—I bet I can get a good reaction out of Ruby."

"You probably could."

We stood in silence.

"You're gonna miss Ozpin's speech."

"Oh."

* * *

Personally, in my own opinion, Ozpin wasn't that good at speeches. The whole 'wasted talent' thing was good, but it wasn't inspirational or rallying—it was to put the crowd into a reflective mood.

Next year, Ozpin should let Commander Arc write a speech for him. Not to sound too arrogant (ah screw it), but I was pretty good at pep talking a crowd. My speeches always got my soldiers all pumped up and ready to fight. Maybe it was because I needed them all happy for my Semblance, but somber speeches sucked. I wanted speeches where people are jumping off the walls and screaming 'fuck yeah!' at the top of their lungs.

Now _that_ was my best speech by far. Actually, it should be considered a pep rally the more I think about it. We had a Cinder Fall pinata and everything... it was magical.

I still think someone (SUN!) spiked the drinks, but I couldn't be sure who. I had a few guesses (SUN!), but nothing concrete. Whoever did it (SUN!), however, was eternally in my thanks for the greatest night of my life. It was just a bunch of friends partying and not giving a damn about Cinder Fall and her stupid, beautiful face.

I missed them, all of them.

Stupid Beacon... making me all sentimental...

"How'd you like the speech?" I asked as I looped my arm around Jaune, who jumped in surprise. I chuckled as he grabbed his heart dramatically.

"You almost killed me!" he yelled before calming down, "But it was a nice speech. I feel like garbage after it, but still nice."

"Joan!" A figure ran into me, making the burn on my arm sting. "You're here!"

I tried to peel Ruby off me, but it was an impossible task. I just ignored the pain and smiled at her. "Little Red," I addressed, "what's up?"

"So that's where Blake's been!" I could hear Yang say as she approached. "No wonder she ran off, she must have noticed you." She froze as she saw Jaune. "You're the guy who got throw up on my shoes!"

I stared at myself, who chuckled nervously. "Oops?"

"Did little Jauney mess with you," I cooed as I pinched Jaune's cheeks. "Jauney! Don't be mean to strangers! Apologize right now!"

"I hate my life," he said with a deep sigh.

Blake, being Blake, kept looking between us quickly, obviously making a million theories at once.

"This here is..." I thought for a moment, "my brother. This is my little brother Jaune, but don't let the relation make you think he's a good fighter. His little sister can still beat him up."

"Julia's a monster!" he defended.

"You have a brother!?" Ruby cried incredulously, to which I nodded. "He looks... just like you!"

Luckily Jaune decided that 'brother' was a lot simpler than 'very distant cousin yet we still look alike' and went along with me. I'd like to say I fit into the Arc family good enough to be considered family anyways.

Blake was staring at Jaune with... not malice, but not happy thoughts.

Was the little kitty jealous?

"I also have seven sisters," I said nonchalantly. "All of them younger and all of them just as adorable as I am."

"I think the term 'sexy' is better," Yang commented lewdly, putting on her flirty personality. "Which is good for your sisters."

I rolled my eyes before smirking at Blake's glare. That girl was so possessive... over what? A mentor?

Well... I _do_ know how she is with her tuna, so I should't be surprised. I never had a cat before, but I did know that they could be very, VERY possessive. She wasn't rubbing up on me purring, however... which was a good thing, now that I thought about it. I refuse to be a pedophile, that's nasty and a clear insult to my future wife (who didn't even know we were getting married yet).

Cheating before we even got a ring? That's a disgrace to the Arc name.

Sorry Blake.

"I'm sexy and I know it."

"Joan!" Jaune whined from my grip. "Stop embarrassing me! Can you wait until _after_ I made friends!?"

"No!" I yelled, but I did let go of him. I took a few steps back and looked at the full image. Jaune, Yang, Blake and Ruby... JBRY (Juneberry)? We went on missions before in the past, with different team names every time. It was tough to find a good name... how the hell did Ozpin do it?

What if those four became a team? That would actually be a train wreck. An even bigger wreck than the early team RWBY.

Luckily Ozpin had it all sorted out... I hope.

"How'd you like the scholarship, Red? Would you rather be in Signal still, or did I make the right choice?"

"It was you!" She launched herself back at me, but I dodged this time. She landed nimbly and pointed a finger at me. "I knew Uncle Qrow couldn't get me into Beacon! And Blake mentioned how you got her into the school so I knew it was you!"

"Yup."

"Why?" Yang asked.

I shrugged. "She has the talent. Signal would be a waste of her time."

"Apparently I'm the youngest person to be in Beacon like ever!"

"Don't get a big head," I warned, "I knew a girl who got into a secondary school at your age. It's not a once in a lifetime thing."

Technically, it was. It really was.

"Who cares!?" she cried. "Me and Crescent Rose are about to tear up Beacon with normal knees!"

"Crescent Rose and I," Blake muttered.

I patted her on the shoulder. "Well tonight is a giant sleepover, so I don't think Crescent Rose is needed. Bunny pajamas, however," I glanced at Jaune with a smirk, "they're survival tool number one."

* * *

I kept my distance in the morning. Jaune needed to be awkward around Pyrrha and Weiss for his own survival. I just sat in the teacher lounge conversing with Doctor Oobleck—silently begging for Pyrrha to decide Jaune Arc was partner material.

I always questioned why she pinned me to a tree during initiation. It wasn't made clear until she kissed me and locked me in a locker before basically committing suicide via Cinder Fall.

Cinder beat Ozpin... how did Pyrrha think she stood a chance?

Meh. I spent months—maybe even years—silently asking why Pyrrha did what she did. It didn't really bother me after I realized that dead was dead. She was gone and thinking about what I _could_ have done instead of what I _did_ do was useless. Pyrrha Nikos was a catalyst to The War, nothing more than a fond memory.

And then this shit happened.

"Fuck," I muttered as I downed a cup of coffee. "I think I need to spike this stuff."

"I'm afraid they don't allow that," Oobleck said. "Not that I attempt to—caffeine is wonderful—but we only ever pour a drink out when the year is over."

Which never happened in my time, as Beacon was destroyed long before the year ended. This time, however, we would prevent Beacon's fall and get shit faced drunk... that sounded nice.

"Bart, remind me when the year is over and I'll buy the entire staff enough booze to make the fucking gods of prohibition weep tears of sadness."

He laughed. "You don't want to teach here, but I think you should consider poetry."

"Maybe I should... Joan Arc, special agent and poetry teacher." I smirked. "Ladies love that, don't they?"

"You shouldn't say that too loud," the voice of Ozpin said from behind me. "Talking about ladies despite your... other commitments is not the best thing to do."

"Ozzy," I addressed.

"Ozpin," Bart said with a nod.

"Joan, I need to talk to you in my office." I nodded and gave a goodbye to the Doctor before we headed out.

"Head Honcho tell you?" I asked as we walked.

Ozpin nodded. "We just found out. I know you've been through tough times, and to go such lengths for this cause means you really have suffered. I don't think I can begin to understand what you've been through."

"Winter's a good girl, I like her a lot," I said. "I really think that my feeling will evolve into love with time."

"I wish the best for the both of you."

We were silent as we rode the elevator up the clock tower. When we arrived I noticed Glynda already there, staring at a screen with multiple avatars on it.

"We're all here," she told Ozpin, who nodded.

 _"What's up?"_ Qrow said in the conference call.

"Hey Qrow," I replied, "where you at?"

 _"Sitting at home, prepping for Signal even though I do jack shit there."_

"Ah."

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee. "I assume the SDC was not apart of The Fold in your time."

I shook my head. "We're miles ahead of my own timeline. Cinder and her underlings are nowhere near what they used to be. I want to say it'll be a cakewalk, but Cinder's brilliant, she won't attack until she's desperate or she knows she'll win."

 _"How do we make her desperate?"_ Tai asked.

"I'm not fully sure," I said with a shrug. "The only time I ever saw her desperate was after she got the third Maiden. She needed to complete the package, but Ruby was too quick for her. She was unstable and was dying without the Summer Maidenhood. That was the final battle, she used whatever spies she had to find us and then launched a full offensive."

The voice of Ironwood rang, _"From your stories, she's incredibly confident and patient at this stage of her plans. Our best chance is to make the White Fang angry with her and try to pressure her into a premature attack."_

"Adam's a wild one," I agreed, "but he's an idealist and literally bullheaded. He, despite his own claims, is pretty loyal to Cinder and her cause. We won't get the White Fang against her without taking him out first."

 _"He has been quiet since he attacked my train,"_ Schnee noted.

"From what I heard from Blake, there were only rumors about a human wanting to align with the White Fang before the whole train debacle. From what we gathered, Cinder became acquainted with the group after Adam returned from the train. Because of her their goals have shifted from destroying the SDC to stealing from the SDC. They have Roman to do that now, who's a lot better of a thief than anyone else in the Remnant."

 _"It's a compromise,"_ Qrow said, _"there are smaller Dust companies with a lot less security, but those are companies that the White Fang don't target. They only have a vendetta against the SDC, and they're making sure Cinder only steals from them."_

 _"It is because my company is one hundred percent human. We are the epitome of what humans can accomplish."_

"In a few months there will be a SDC shipment, a rather large one. I think it might be for the Vytal Festival, but the exact purpose is irrelevant. All I know is that Roman and a bunch of White Fang steals it. We, which includes Penny, defeated them, but they still got away with all the Dust. I'm pretty sure that was when they got enough materials to crash a train into Vale."

 _"Penny was just activated!"_ Polendina said happily.

"Mountain Glenn," Ozpin said slowly, ignoring the good Doctor. "The skeleton in our closet comes back to haunt us. We can't send troops yet, it's too valuable of an ambush point not too."

 _"How?"_ Schnee asked.

 _"The bulk of the White Fang and Cinder sitting inside of a giant cave filled with Dust and a few exits,"_ Ironwood said _. "It's inhumane, but we could very easily blow the entire thing—taking out all of our issues with it."_

I sighed. "The problem is that a lot of those White Fang soldiers aren't inherently bad, just misguided. Cinder has a silver tongue, and is just misleading a bunch of gullible souls. Cinder, Adam, Neo, Roman, Emerald and maybe even Mercury are crucial. If we take them out and a few of the more racist Fang members, the threat will be gone. A lot of those soldiers are just following the bandwagon—they don't really believe in the cause to begin with."

 _"It's an ultimatum,"_ Ironwood assured. _"We will not do it unless it is absolutely necessary."_

"Even though The Breach happens first, we need to find out how Cinder hacked every single Atlesian mech we have during The Fall. I'm no technology guy, but Ruby told me how she found Torchwick and Neo in a command ship. My guess is that they used it to upload some sort of virus into the system."

 _"We do keep a lot of those mechs on the same server,"_ Polendina muttered. _"I'll start working on multi layered security systems. A virus will only take down maybe a squad of mechs maximum if I do it right."_

 _"I'll give you clearance,"_ Ironwood said. _"Do whatever you must."_

 _"Does Ruby beat them?"_ Tai asked.

"In a way. Neo used an illusion to make it look like Roman was killed, so they escaped. She made them run away, but that victory is overshadowed since we lost Beacon completely."

There was silence.

"How long do we have?" Ozpin asked.

"Months," I replied. "Team RWBY's first mission will be an expedition to Glenn with Oobleck—a day later is when The Breach happens. The Fall is during the Vytal festival. We have enough time to prevent most of Cinder's trump cards."

"Cinder thinks she has the element of surprise," Ozpin said, "when in reality we are the one who will surprise her."

 _"What about that Salem thing?"_ Qrow asked.

I openly groaned even though I knew my future father-in-law disliked it. "Salem's a whole nother beast," I said miserably. "The only reason we beat her was because Cinder wanted her dead as well."

"You teamed up with her?" Glynda looked surprised.

I looked at her and shrugged. "Salem's the mother of all monsters—literally—I'm almost certain she can create Grimm. I had to rationalize... Cinder defeated me but left me alive. She told me that she no longer needed to pretend to be Salem's pawn and wanted my help to defeat her. I refused, but Salem was on a whole different level. In the end I chose to eradicate Grimm over Miss Fall."

 _"So,"_ Qrow started, _"you're saying that we can end Grimm if we end Salem. We kill her and then what? Poof...?"_

"My mind was always on Cinder, so I was never a Salem expert. But from what I know, once Salem is gone Grimm can't be created anymore. If you wipe out all the Grimm in Vale than they'll be gone forever... I think."

 _"So Grimm number's are not finite,"_ Polendina mumbled.

"As we all know, childbirth is difficult. Salem can only spawn so many Grimm with her power, I think. Again, I know everything about Cinder, not Salem. My focus was on protecting the people. Ren was the guy to ask about Operation Massachusetts."

 _"Cinder is the immediate threat,"_ Ironwood said, _"but even if we take her out there is still Salem looming over us."_

"Compared to when I fought Salem I have nowhere near the same amount of people powering my Semblance, but that was years ago and I've been training. I can probably fight at the exact same level that I had when I beat Salem. Cinder was crucial, but if I can get more support I can compensate for it. Plus we could unite the Maidens together—she wouldn't stand a chance."

"What are the requirements for being a Maiden?" Ozpin asked. "You said Miss Nikos was going to become the Fall Maiden, why exactly?"

"It's up to the Maiden," I explained. "The only thing I can say for sure is that it's girls only. When the Summer Maiden was dying I asked her to try and make me the Maiden. But even though the Maiden wanted me to become her successor it went to Ruby, who was in the room with us. As far as I know, it's all up to the Maiden, or, in Amber's case, us. Pyrrha was the most responsible and powerful, it's only natural she's option number one."

 _"Is that it?"_ Qrow asked. _"Does the Maidens have to have their... maidenhood."_

"I'm not sure about Cinder," my face started to heat up, "but I know Ruby didn't."

I just said that in front of my future father, Ruby's father and Ruby's uncle.

Winter was right... I was an idiot.

"Roman Torwick," Ozpin said, giving me a break, "do you have any idea where he keeps the Dust he has stolen?"

"We could ask."

"Ask?"

"Look," I started, "Cinder is the main one that we need dead. Roman didn't join, he was recruited. Everyone underestimates his skills for some strange reason. He's a fantastic fighter that's a better thief and an even better actor. He does everything with his own interest in mind; if we can back him into a corner he will tell us what we want to know. The issue is not only how slippery he is, it's the fact he has Neo—a freak of nature—on his side."

Ozpin nodded. "If we can back both him and Neo into a corner, then he will cut a deal for his own safety."

"I wish it was that simple," I admitted. "I mentioned to Qrow that Neo is a possible Dual Semblance, she can make illusions and teleport. Threatening to lock him in jail is pointless since he can always break out. If we kill Neo, he won't cooperate at all, and we can't hold her in prison even if we neutralize her. The only thing we have to possibly sway him to our side is that he dislikes Cinder just as much as we do."

 _"Making him ours sounds impossible,"_ Tai commented.

"You're right," I agreed. "But, we don't need his loyalty. We just need the locations of all the Dust he's stolen. We need to get him into a situation where Neo can't bail him out, and then ask him for the location of the Dust with the promise of ending Cinder Fall."

 _"And in a few months there's a rather big robbery he's gonna take part in."_

I nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"You said 'maybe' when referring to Mercury," Glynda noted, "what does that mean?"

"Mercury joined Cinder for lack of better options. He's a powerful fighter that plays for the winning team. Emerald cannot be swayed to our side—she's too grateful to Cinder for taking her off the streets. We could, however, get Mercury to join us. If we back him into a corner I think he'll break and cut a deal."

 _"A few days in an interrogation cell will do,"_ Qrow said darkly. _"He's seventeen, right?"_

"He's old enough to be tortured," I said. "But I don't think we have to. We get him for a crime and then scare the shit out of him—he's the weakest link right now."

"Initiation is in ten minutes," Glynda said, tapping at her Scroll, "we can't talk any longer."

* * *

"You know," I said as I appeared next to Team JNPR, "it's embarrassing when you have the most luggage, Jaune."

Jaune jumped. "Joan! Why do you keep doing that!?" he whined.

Team RWBY, who was loading their luggage into their room, jumped as well.

"You!" Weiss yelled as she pointed a finger at me.

"Yes Weiss, me." I shook my head. "That's some bad manners, Weiss, Winter wouldn't be happy with that." She blushed and looked away, making Ruby cackle at her lack of composure.

"What's up, Joan?" Jaune asked.

"Meh."

"Ah. Well this is my team! Those two are Ren and Nora—" he pointed at the two "—they're partners, but they aren't _together_ together, alright?"

I nodded and smiled at my two greatest friends. "A pleasure," I said as I shook both of their hands. Ren's was a softer grip, and Nora's painfully crushed my hand.

"This is my partner, Pyrrha." He placed a hand on Pyrrha shoulder and gestured towards me. "Pyrrha this is my awesome older brother, Joan Arc!"

"We've met," she said quietly.

"You have?"

I chuckled. "I met her in Mistral, she lost her wallet and I paid for her meal. By the way, did you win the tournament?" Blake looked pretty curious, probably because she was at Mistral as well, but still managed to glare at Pyrrha's embarrassed expression.

"I did win," she admitted. "You're advice was very helpful."

"That's good."

"Oh yeah," Jaune said dismissively, "Pyrrha won some tournament seven times or something. I never heard of it, but she's really tough, so it must be a good one."

I laughed at his obliviousness. How did I not know her when we met? No wonder Weiss was flabbergasted when I admitted I had no idea who she was—Pyrrha Nikos was a celebrity.

"Oh oh oh!" Ruby grabbed Weiss and shoved her forwards. "This is my partner Weiss! I blew her up with Dust and she yelled at me but she's pretty cool with her sword and her gylphy thingies and she has a sword that uses really pure Dust and I was like 'hey Weiss where did you get such pure dust from' and she was like 'oh yeah I get it from somewhere' she didn't say somewhere but I just don't remember where she got it from and then there was a big Nevermore tha—" Weiss smacked her across the head.

"Be quiet!" the Schnee scolded. "First of all, your diction was horrible, and secondly, I have met Joan before." Her chin raised slightly. "My sister is his partner, after all."

"Really?" Yang looked skeptical. "Where is she then?"

"Weiss is right," I assured, "Winter is my partner. Atlas loaned me to Vale for a while, so she's still with the Atlesian military. I think she's coming for the Vytal festival..."

"Uncle Qrow said you're stronger than him, so that means your partner must be strong too!"

Weiss smirked at Ruby's enthusiasm. "Winter is incredibly strong, she is my sister, after all."

"Weiss," I said, "your arrogance is showing."

"Oops."

I picked up one of Blake's many bags. "I'll help you guys out with your bags. I've been cooped up all day, I need the exercise."

"Thank you!" cried Yang. "I'm exhausted after initiation... they didn't even feed us!"

I smirked. "I can convince the cooks to make some pancakes."

If seeing RWBY and JNPR didn't already make my day, than Nora's beaming smile did.

* * *

 **Authors note:** **Blake isn't exactly head-over-heels in love with Joan, just a puppy crush (or rather, kitty crush).**

 **Any critique is appreciated, no matter how offensive.**


	6. Lord of the News

**Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"Some people get the world while some people get the pain of defeat and the cold embrace of death. Right now, it seems like you're getting the former while I get the latter... but there's not a shred of envy in me when I look at you."_

 _"Then why not join me and get the world as well?" she asked. "Isn't it better to live a life without all this madness in it? If you join me all the mad people will be gone and the world can be peaceful."_

 _He smiled, emotion unclear. "The people for me are the mad ones. The ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say an ordinary thing... but those who burn, burn, burn like the brightest of suns or your corpse when I'm done with you." He snickered at his insult._

 _"Cute, but you are stupid to not understand that the world is not black and white. There will always be evil because hatred is produced by people as much as light is produced from the sun or smoke is produced from a burning corpse. It is because the 'laws' and 'morals' that you people place so high up on pedestals have blocked out the sun and draped the shadow over the entire Remnant—me. Being alive means we cast the shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place... because the shadow always follows."_

 _"That is why we choose a place to stand where our shadow does no harm. It'll take years—maybe even decades—but I truly think that we, as a species, can all find a place to stand where we can all face the sun and enjoy its warmth."_

 _"That is where we disagree... Jaune Arc."_

 _"It seems like it is... Cinder Fall."_

* * *

 _ **Lord of the News**_

* * *

They were awakened by a knock on the door. It was a school day, and Jaune groggily check his alarm clock to see that school didn't even start until a few hours later. He mumbled something and pressed his face into his pillow.

There was another knock.

Pyrrha's sigh could be heard throughout the room.

Suddenly the knocks became raging bangs on JNPR's door.

Pyrrha slowly tried to get up.

"I got it Pyr," Jaune said as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Pyrrha got pretty grumpy when she didn't get enough sleep, and god forbid she snapped at Ozpin, or, even worse, Miss Goodwitch.

He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Hello—" Jaune yelled as he was tackled to the ground and thrown across the room.

Pyrrha snapped up and launched her alarm clock at the foe, but he smacked it away into the wall. She raised her hand and made the shattered pieces of the clock rush towards the man's back.

She yelped as Jaune was flung into her, making them tumble off her bed together. In her loss of concentration the metal shards fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Joan!" Nora said happily, like she didn't just wake up. "Whatcha doing?"

"He—" Joan pointed at Jaune and Pyrrha, who were tangled in Pyrrha's duvet, "—stole my flask!" It was blasphemy to steal booze from someone! Especially the high quality booze he had.

"Huh!?" Jaune let out as he struggled to free himself from his partner.

Joan stopped pointing and tapped his chin. "Well... someone took my flask, and I had it hidden in a little hole I cut into the bottom of my mattress. And I know that another Arc has the exact same spot!" They _were_ the same person after all.

"I don't have your flask!" Jaune yelled as he gave up and just laid on the ground. Pyrrha was still trying to unwrap herself from her partner, but she was way too out of it and was only making it worse.

"Oh." Joan nodded. "Should've just told me that to begin with."

"I opened the door and you tackled me!"

"Because you didn't answer the first time I knocked! I thought you were hiding something!"

"It's four!" Jaune groaned. "Why do you need a flask!?"

"Four is prime drinking time!"

"No it's not! I don't even drink and I know!"

"Well I wanted to drink!" He actually couldn't sleep and wanted to knock himself out with alcohol, but when he couldn't find it stormed to JNPR's room in a withdrawal-induced anger.

"We're stuck," Pyrrha said quietly, blushing.

Jaune looked at his partner. "Pyr, how did you get both your arms stuck around my back?"

She muttered something about 'stupid sheets' and refused to meet his eyes as she was basically forced to hug him.

Ren was still sound asleep.

* * *

"In theory, I don't think it's scientifically possible for this to go wrong."

"You're kidding," Glynda assured herself more than me, "the chances of you integrating yourself into the White Fang, getting in close with your target, killing your target and then fighting your way out of the base is literally impossible in every scenario."

"Well Glynda, my mother raised me to make friends... I made nine friends in seventeen years. What's your record, huh?" Well people like Blake or Weiss weren't really my friends until we were in our twenties, but it wasn't like someone from the future could come and prove me wrong.

She scoffed but stayed silent.

"Well?"

"I can't agree on this mission," she said. "You can't use gung-ho tactics like that in Vale. We don't like slapping down a classified stamp and letting someone go on a suicide mission."

I rose an eyebrow. "Why not? I have a perfect success rate on every suicide mission I've been on with Atlas. In fact, the term 'suicide' really doesn't make sense. I'm not the one hurting myself."

"But you agree on the missions that get you seriously injured. It's a long term suicide."

"Life is a long term suicide. We could live forever if we wanted to live a life not worth living." I blinked. "Woah... I used 'live' a lot."

Glynda sighed. "And there's the brain damage kicking in."

I chuckled. "Did the notorious Glynda Goodwitch just make a joke?"

"The brain damage is obviously making you hallucinate."

"Then help me find a mission that isn't considered 'horrible' by everyone else," I asked, somewhat irritated that they were trying to take my job away from me, "because war seems to have desensitized me."

Glynda pulled out a folder that I hadn't noticed and handed it to me. "This is your mission that has already been chosen," she explained.

"You asked me what kind of mission I wanted," I said blandly.

"I wanted to hear your opinion," she said with little emotion. "It also gave me a good test to see how insane you really are, and suggesting a mission like that proves that you are _—"_

 _"Not!"_

"—clearly very insane," she finished, not giving any indication that she even heard my cry.

"It never truly hit me how sadistic you are, Glynda. It really makes me wonder why you're allowed to teach kids."

"Because Ozpin doesn't get shit done."

I blinked, surprised at her bluntness. It was an _uncommon_ piece of knowledge that the eccentricity of Beacon's Headmaster knew no bounds, and that he was notorious for doing more... creative things with his resources. The acquisition of one of the finest libraries in the entire land and the most prestigious chefs were not exactly necessary, but it kept Beacon as luxurious as ever.

Beacon was built as... well a beacon. A sign that humanity were more than simple animals. Ozpin was the giant light bulb that kept the beacon glowing by making the school more prestigious than any other place.

"Glynda, is this one of those new files that self destruct five minutes after they're opened?"

"I never heard of those before."

"Good... they haven't been created yet."

Glynda rolled her eyes. "Our group has to take down Cinder Fall and her little group, and according to you Adam Taurus is a major player in the years to come. The only way to take out Adam is to separate him from the White Fang. Tai thought of an idea that he wants you to hear."

"What is it?"

"Tai failed to mention it to me," she said, the picture of professional. From the way her eyes sharpened, however, it was safe to say she was a _little_ upset.

* * *

Vacuo didn't hold the warmest of places in my heart. The more I thought about it, not a single piece of land on the entire Remnant didn't have some sort of bad memory associated with it. Vacuo especially.

I really didn't like it, but business was business.

The town I was in was small and clearly not used to the attention it was currently recieving. From my knowledge, the place was a town created by an independent Dust company to house it's workers while they mined from an abundant quarry nearby.

Unfortunately the quarry was not as safe as they would have liked.

There were many news crew among the chunks of rock and debris. I spotted my target closer to the crowd of angry protesters that traveled all the way from Vale to show their dissatisfaction with the company.

In front of the camera that was taking sweeping shots of the crowd was a dark skinned, young man dressed rather nicely for the conditions outside. He was talking into a microphone with a solemn expression on his face.

"...sources indicate that the company was under investigation for unsafe conditions before the incident occurred. We did report earlier this month on how the Faunus Worker Association did strike against this particular mine, and the company did promise to increase working conditions. There are still people being pulled out of the rubble, but the casualty count is still at forty seven. If you have family or friends working in this mine that you have not heard from, please call this number. This is Cyril Ian, back to you."

That was the target.

Cryril took out his earpiece and walked over to me.

"Are you the golden one?" he asked. "The XL one?"

Really Tai?

"Yes," I said, playing it by the book and pretending that I was the one he was talking to all along. "I am the XL one, which is definitely does not mean extra large. So don't think it let anyone else think that."

Tai and Qrow had a few more sources they were trying to milk, so they left me with this guy. Apparently he was the least likely to betray me, but didn't have the biggest amount of opportunity to him.

Low risk low reward. Not something I was used to, but it was a nice change from constantly being shot at.

"I appreciate you coming all the way out here to meet me," Cyril said, looking around. "This place isn't the most peaceful of environments. Any business involving Dust mining ever is."

"Perhaps we should go somewhere more private," I suggested.

"As you can see," Cyril gestured to the many news vans, "my station is not the only one reporting on this. Privacy is hard to come across when the news is involved. Reporters like me like to butt in on other people's business."

"Then you should know how to avoid them."

Cyril gave me a charming, and undoubtedly fake, smile. "The heat of Vacuo is never bearable, is it?"

"I've never been a fan of it."

He started to walk. I followed him towards a roadblock of guards, where he flashed his badge and they allowed us through. We walked over to a small pavilion that was hastily set up for the other reporters to lounge.

"So Cyril," I started when there were no reporters around, most of them trying to get a story.

Cyril warily looked around. "Okay," he said quietly, "I have a lead on the Vale News Network."

I rose an eyebrow. The Vale News Network was not just Vale's most trusted source of information, but the worlds. Vacuo was too barren, Mistral was too corrupt and Atlas was too secretive to allow a comprehensive network of information to be publicly accessed. Vale, however, realized the importance of reporting to the people early, which led to the VNN to have the most abundant network of journalists and reporters in the world.

"What's the lead?" I asked.

"Come here," Cyril whispered, leaning closer to me.

I leaned in.

"There's a hit on Lisa Lavender," he whispered.

"Why?" came out of my mouth automatically.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "But there's some shady shit happening over there and we need to find out what it is."

"We?"

He nodded. "Well yeah. I don't have all the details and I'm not ashamed to ask for help in this one. This story could rock the entire Remnant, it needs to be told and I need to be the one to tell it."

"Lisa Lavender having a hit isn't world changing news," I said, eyes narrowing. "There's more to this, isn't there."

"I will completely fill you in _if_ we get it."

"Get it?" I asked, even though deep down inside I knew what he was going to say.

"Well we need the proof, and luckily I know where it is. The issue is... well the way of attaining it isn't exactly easy or legal."

Damn it.

* * *

Cyril was smart, I'd give him that. He knew I was interested in what he had to offer and was trying to take full advantage of it.

Using my skills to fulfill his agenda... genius.

The only issue is, which he didn't realize, was that he _needed_ me and I knew it. I had my fair share of run ins with pretty much every news station or tabloid in the future. Cyril Ian was an reporter whose daring trips into the front lines and beyond made him somewhat famous among the army.

But right now he was nothing but an upstart reporter trying to make his mark.

He was easier to read than a book. I was trained in reading and influencing people by the best, but any person with enough tact could easily tell what he was up to.

"It's somewhat stereotypical," he explained as we walked down the streets of Vale's commercial district. "The information we need is hidden in a private email server that can only be accessed by the president of the VNN."

"If there's a hit on Lisa, then why would the president of her network know?" She was the most valuable asset they had. Everyone trusted Lisa Lavender, she was a successful correspondent for the VNN ever since her teens. She became their main reporter after she broke many large stories in her early twenties.

She was practically a celebrity.

"Do you know who owns the VNN?" Cyril asked.

I racked my mind for information, before frowning. "Can't say I do," I admitted.

"Well the VNN is a privately owned organization," he explained. "The owners are stakeholders whose identities are not even fully disclosed to the public."

"That's a rather shady company you work for."

"I know... I know. That's why I need your help. I'd rather not work for a company that I don't even know who owns it. The current president of the VNN, without a doubt, has communications with the mysterious board, and I have reason to believe that it involves the life of Lisa Lavender."

He was using me to knock out two birds with one stone. Finding out about the company and saving Lisa Lavender in one play... smart.

"Where did you get the info on a hit?" I asked as we walked past the VNN building. I glanced at him questioningly was we walked by, but Cyril just kept walking by.

We walked in silence for a minute before he turned into an alleyway and started to head down in.

"It's an anonymous source," he said.

"How anonymous?"

He didn't respond.

"Here," he said as we stopped at what looked like the back part of the VNN building. "The only surveillance equipment is in the front lobby, so we have to enter from my office on the twelfth floor."

I looked up, the building was easily sixty stories.

"Fire escape?"

"Yup. Fire escape."

* * *

I was in a building that made news with the intention of stealing their most important asset _—_ information.

It made me miss fighting... at least that was simple despite the horrible deaths and injuries I encountered. Instead of convoluted plans of hacking the presidents computer a battle only had one real plan... kill the enemy.

"Alright," Cyril said as we approached the president's office, "he's out, so we just have to go inside and _—_ " his eyes widened, " _—_ Lisa!"

i followed his terrfiied gaze and saw none other than Lisa Lavender walking towards the president's office holding a stack of papers.

"Shit," Cyril sweared. "You need to distract her while I get the info!"

"Me?" I questioned. "Don't you know her?"

Cyril ran into the president's office and I heard an audible click as he locked the door behind him.

What a guy...

Lisa was getting closer, so I started making my way towards her.

As we passed each other I 'stumbled' and bumped it's her. Both of us, and the stack of papers she was holding, went to the ground.

"Oh crap my bad," I said as I got on my knees and started grabbing at papers. "I'm so clumsy no matter where I am!"

She stayed silent as she picked up papers, putting me off a lot more than I would have liked. It was worse because the floor was filled with cubicles and everyone was looking at me like I was some idiot that knocked THE Lisa Lavender down.

Which I was, actually, but I still didn't appreciate their looks.

After we got her papers organized we both got back up. She was still silent... keeping her eyes on me for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Sorry?" I let out after her gaze got too much for me.

"Joan Arc," she said, sounding exactly like she did on TV, "what are you doing here?"

She knew my name. The fact that she knew my name meant she knew of my existence.

Techically, I didn't even have a birth certificate. I was literally a time traveler from the future...

Yet somehow she knew who I was.

Screw Cyril. She just caught my attention way more than he did.

"I'm here because of you, actually."

She rose an eyebrow as she looked at me, not speaking but somehow loudly saying that she wanted to know my every intention.

I gave a small glance to the office before walking away from it. "Come," I said to Lisa, "let's go somewhere more private to talk." And as a journalist, she naturally followed.

* * *

"So," I started as soon as the door to her office closed, "do you know that there is a hit on you?"

Lisa sat down at her desk and stared at me, clearly having hundreds of responses running through her head _—_ each one ready to get a different piece of information out of me. She was just thinking about which one she'd use first in order to get the most answers in the least amount of time.

She wasn't the face of the best news network in the world for no reason.

"Yes, I do know of a hit on my name." She didn't look like she was going to clarify any more details. She wasn't going to tell me the entire story so easily... I had to earn it.

"Information is powerful, and it's safe to assume that those who snoop around and try to acquire certain information could be considered too much of a nuisance to live. I can name a few people off the top of my head that would've benefited from you being assassinated, but none right now."

"Smart," she complimented. "There is not a lot of information on you, practically none, but clearly you are not so hidden without reason."

"So you of all people must know that me just being here talking to you means that this is more than just someone trying to get petty revenge on you for ruining their reputation or getting them in trouble. There is a lot more to this that scares other reporters." The fact that Cyril actually thought he could use me without telling me what was fully going on was borderline offensive. Either he was a giant asshole, which my dealing with him in the future pointed otherwise, or he was scared of letting something slip.

Whatever was scaring the most daring reporter I ever knew into silence was something I needed to know.

"You are full of surprise, Joan. You are more than just a soldier, as I expected. There must be some high people you are I. Co tact with in order for you to get on this lead."

"Perhaps you're secret is not as secret as you would like."

"Actually, I would like the secret to not be a secret. That is the reason I am wanted dead, because it is the greatest secret in the entire news industry."

Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

Tai actually got me into a situation more dangerous than taking Yang on a date.

"And that is?" I asked, anticipation building in my chest.

She opened her mouth and _—_

There was a knock on the door.

I sighed.

"What are the chance they're here to kill you?"

"Dreadfully high."

I instinctive brought my hand to my hip, but sighed again when I realized that I was currently unarmed. Cyril has convinced me that bringing any weapon into the VNN building was the fastest way to get arrested.

What a day...

The knocking increased.

I stood up, dusted myself off, and then charged straight through the door.

I could feel the body on the other side of the door get taken to the ground and crushed by my weight. I immediately popped up and analyzed my surrounding.

The floor was completely empty sans a man dressed in more combat oriented clothes with a handgun.

He didn't even have time to react as I grabbed his wrist before he could properly aim his weapon and twisted. His wrist snapped and I ripped the gun away from his now useless appendage.

I took a step towards him and slammed the grip of the gun into the side of his head.

He collapsed and I leveled my gun at him. After a few static seconds I lowered the weapon, he was out.

The man underneath the door started to shove it off him, but I slammed my foot into his head before he could cause any trouble.

"They evacuated the floor," Lisa dryly noted from behind me. "How considerate of them."

"Very," I agreed as I scanned the room once more. "Alright, there's nobody else on this floor."

"The people after me have a lot of money. Enough money to pay for an entire army of mercenaries."

"Then we need to leave, but," I turned around and looked at her, "why do they _—_ whoever _—_ want you dead?"

We really needed to leave, but I couldn't trust her with all the secrets she had. Something big was going on and couldn't afford to be stabbed in the back.

I couldn't afford to have a CRDL happen to me.

Her constant eye contact still made me uncomfortable as she stood there.

"Have you heard of the Anvil Dust Tragedy?" she asked.

I nodded. The Anvil Dust Company was an independent Dust company that operated in Mistral. They're use of cheap, almost slave like, Faunus workers became a worldwide controversy when their entire operation went up in flames. Killing hundreds of Faunus and they're families in a explosion caused by their lack of safety protocol. After the explosion it was found out that the living conditions were deemed 'lower than a slaughterhouse' from Lisa Lavender herself.

The outrage that followed was the largest I had seen until I became a soldier, and I was seven at the time. Worldwide riots and White Fang led protests, some violent some not, happened for weeks.

"And the Vacuo missile crisis?"

I nodded again. It was basically common history. Vacuo secretly attempted to create a heavily militarized base away from the mainland where they could fire artillery at other countries from an island close to Vale. Once the artillery hit it would look like Vale were the attackers.

They used the guise of expansion once they were caught, saying they were trying to colonize further lands _—_ akin to Mountain Glenn, but this was way before that trainwreck (thanks for the joke, Yang).They adamantly denied ever attempting to cause trouble, but they couldn't recover after being caught red handed.

The embargo of water trade was one of the most brutal showings in Remnant history. Without the other nations supplying them with the valuable resource Vacuo almost collapsed.

"The Jigsaw killings?"

A nod.

"The incident at the Schnee mine in Draco twenty years ago?"

Another nod.

"All fake."

I froze.

"Excuse me?" I asked even though I heard her clearly.

"All those incedents were fabricated by men in the shadows in order to meet their own agendas. They've been shaping history itself by influencing what the people of the Remnant know."

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"We need to leave."

* * *

The more I thought of the situation the worse it got. In fact, thinking about it deeply made my head want to spin with all the possibilities.

The news, or at least a lot of it, was _fake_? The stories everyone trusted by default were nothing more than manipulative lies?

I used to think my older sister was so damn smart for constantly staying informed by watching or reading different news stories. She believed all of it _—_ we all did.

Nobody thought that there were people with enough balls to stare into a camera broadcasting to millions of people and lie. Not only lie once, but lie about entire massive events happening.

The Vacuo Missil Crisis, the Anvil Dust Company and the Jigsaw killer were all history... they were in the damn history books they gave kids in school.

The worst part was so much more had potential to be fake.

I had to fix this somehow. The biggest scandal in Remnant history was now my problem to deal with.

This was all Tai's fault. I thought Yang and Ruby were bad... but I should have known they got their crazy from somewhere. And Tai wasn't attractive to make up for it.

"Joan," Lisa called, drawing me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Do you see it?"

I looked around as subtlety as I could. We were walking down rn the streets of Vale and it was pretty crowed _—_ anyone could be following us.

Then I saw something in the street.

"Do you mean the van?" I asked as I glanced at a VNN van driving our way.

She nodded.

"You know, that van looks pretty stripped down," I noted as I grabbed Lisa's hand. The expensive transmitting equipment on top if it was gone. "Yet look at the suspension... something is weighing it down."

"Hey!" a voice rang among the manny pedestrians. Everyone turned and looked as a Faunus hopped up on a ledge staring all around. "I have a few things I need to say about this system and what it's doing to us!"

A few people circled around him which eventually led to many. The Faunus started ranting about how his race was doomed to fail by the government.

I hardly payed attention as the van was still approaching.

I pursed my lips as I stared at the figure of Beacon in the distance.

We were too far away.

"Come on," I said to Lisa as I led her away from the demonstration and towards and alleyway. Right as we entered it I looked back and noticed that the Faunus speaking at the crowd was looking directly at us.

Damn it... my hunch was correct.

"Do you think _—_ "

"Yes," I cut her off.

We started walking faster.

Then the van entered the alleyway.

"Run!" I yelled to Lisa as the van started to accelerate down the narrow path towards us.

We started sprinting down the alley. Lisa was surprisingly spry all things considered, but we were trying to escape a machine.

A machine never slowed down.

I grabbed the metal lid of a trash can and whipped it at the van. The driver brought his hands up as the windshield shattered in his face. The car lost control and crashed into the side of the alley.

Lisa let out a loud breath.

"That was clo-"

The van exploded.

* * *

 **Authors note: This chapter was actually so dark I decided to remake it. The original went really deep into the psychological effects of time traveling ten years into the past. It wasn't pretty, so I had to shift the pacing in the story to make it more realistic. Although I did not intend for it to take months.**

 **The story will include more of the main characters after this little adventure ends.**

 **As always, feel free to point out any criticism that I can improve on. Also I'm happy to answer any questions you have (it probably helps me more than you).**

 **I also added extra content to make up for the wait.**

* * *

 **Omake:**

 ** _Intermission 1: Jaune Arc and the Weapon of Doom Part 1_**

* * *

 _ **Four years into the war**_ _,_ _General Jaune Arc was tasked with finding a super weapon being secretly developed in Vacuo. His mission, despite being one of his most daring and heroic, is classified and was not even recorded digitally. It is a hidden story of perseverance, revenge and how there is no true winners in war._

* * *

It was a hot place. The indoors did little to stop the bead of sweat rolling down the bartenders head as he idly cleaned a cup. The aged wooden walls did nothing to stop the panting of a tired man as he desperately tried to keep his poker face up during a game of cards. The heat drew all attention away from the harlots, despite their choice of clothing being skimpier than usual in an attempt to stay somewhat cooler.

So it was a surprise when the batwing doors opened and a man in a heavy, tattered brown cloak walked in. The weight of the cloak was easily visible, and drew attention a bit too easily with the sheer impracticality of it. While yes, the nights could get cold in the desert, the heat of the day was much more dangerous in the heart of Vacuo. Surely the cloaked figure didn't walk through the desert in such a garb?

The music from the piano was almost too comical as the tall, cloaked figure walked through the establishment silently. The happy tunes couldn't be more out of place as trouble seemed to be edging into the once lethargic saloon.

The figure walked to the piano player—the only one seemingly unaware of the sudden tension—and waited unexpectedly. The piano player chuckled and continued to play while dramatically lifting his hands up and down.

"There," the pianist said as he finished his song, "I'm done. What do you think of the piece?"

"Horrible," the cloaked figure remarked dryly.

The pianist took of his hat and placed it onto his instrument, revealing greasy black hair that was surely graying and playful red eyes.

"Back when I was in school, Tai bet our entire team that the person who learned to play the piano the best after one week would have their homework for the rest of the semester done by the losers. I found out I was pretty talented at the piano—something my musically retarded sister hated."

"I'm sure Raven's pride enjoyed that week," the figure said.

"She did some great homework," the pianist commented wistfully.

"I'm sure she did."

* * *

"You know why I'm here?" the cloaked figure asked as he tore his cloak off, revealing blonde hair blue eyes. "I honestly felt like dying having to walk through the fucking desert in a blanket..."

"You walked through cities, didn't you?"

A nod. "I'm too recognizable. Apparently General Jaune Arc is some sort of hot shit in the TV world. They're making tabloids about me... there's a damn war going on, Qrow, and yet those stupid magazines still talk their trash."

"It's how the deal with it," Qrow assured. "The people want to read something that reassures them that the world hasn't gone to shit yet."

"Qrow... they're writing stories debating on which member of Team RWBY I'm currently involved it. According to the votes it's either 'Yang' or option E."

"Option E?"

"All of the above."

Qrow shuddered. "Stay away from my innocent nieces!"

"Don't worry, old man!" Jaune smirked at Qrow's glare. "They only say Yang cause she's been my partner-in-crime lately. I have no idea on why people think I'm banging four girls at once though..."

Qrow sighed wistfully. "A man's true dreams..."

"Two of them are your nieces, you sick fuck!"

"Hey! I don't mean them specifically!"

The two stared at each other tensly before erupting into chuckles. They got along surprisingly well for all the differences they had.

They both sat in silence for a few minutes.

"We got really off topic, didn't we?" Jaune ran his hand through his hair and sat down in a rocking chair that just happened to be there.

"Yeah," Qrow said gruffly as he watched Jaune rock back and forth. "His name is irrelevant. His age is irrelevant. All that matters is that he's aiding Cinder in making something horrible... which is all the information we need to warrant a yellow taped bullet to the head."

"Straight assassination?"

"If you want to capture the guy, do your best. I've heard that Cinder's got one of her special squads protecting him."

"You know which one?"

Qrow stroked his beard. "I think we might have lucked out. All the major players are down south, but the only one unaccounted for is Chainsaw."

"That guy?" Jaune smirked. "Weiss mentioned fighting him before The Breach. That guy was freshman level in his late twenties, and his peak must be coming to an end."

"Easy pickings."

"Where are they?"

Qrow frowned. "I had to do some cleaning in my network, so my info isn't as good as we hoped."

"How bad?"

"Not horrible, but not great. The things that I know aren't fake are that the scientist is working in a lab here in the desert. The exact location is unknown."

"A hidden lab in the middle of Vacuo..." Jaune sighed. "It could be anywhere."

"Vacuo never put up much of a fight," Qrow explained, "so there hasn't been any aerial recon during the war."

Jaune placed a hand on his forehead and swore. "With nobody watching they could have had years to build a laboratory..." He removed his hand. "What do the locals know?"

Qrow shrugged. "This _is_ Vacuo. The people here weren't friendly ten years ago and the war hasn't made them any nicer. The best thing I have is that a lot of families from the south are making their up north."

It was a bad situation. Cinder had easily destroyed Beacon, but Vale still had enough soldiers to cause her a small bit of trouble. She had split her army into two major portions—one was in Draco to the north and the other was pushing the remains of Vale south and into Vacuo. Luckily the invasion of Draco was slow enough to prevent a massive flank, but Vale was losing more ground than they would have liked.

"They have nowhere else to go. They're stuck... and I honestly can't blame them."

"The issue is Cinder is using that to smuggle weapons across the desert," Qrow said, grimly nodding as he noticed Jaune's widened eyes. "We're the government, we can't _not_ allow people to flee to safety. But if she can sneak enough weapons and soldiers up north..."

"...she can surround the army in Draco."

Qrow nodded.

"Fuck!" Jaune yelled. "We can't trust anyone without a military ID, but we can't abandon the people we're sworn to protect! Who knows how many of those 'families' are Cinder's men in disguise. It's not like we can stop every adult Faunus even though we all _know_ that's the majority of her army!"

The fucking tabloids would go crazy if the army suddenly became racist. The money from tax payers was the only thing giving them any edge of Cinder's dirty tactics. Being prejudice meant losing political support... which basically meant losing the war.

"The woes of being a good guy," Qrow said while shaking his head. "I feel for you, kid."

Jaune sighed and refocused himself. "So The Scientist is probably being transported across the desert by Chainsaw in the ruse of a family trying to survive... that's sketchy."

"We're in the middle of a desert, so any mess we make is pretty secluded."

"Exactly! We're in a desert! It's just the two of us on this op, Qrow, and we can't fight an entire convoy on our own." Fighting an entire convoy meant they had to stick together. If The Scientist were to run then they'd be shit out of luck.

"Can you call for backup?" he asked after a few minutes of thought.

"Cinder's been hammering the front line. I think she's going all out to distract us while Chainsaw smuggles The Scientist across."

"So no one?"

"Maybe Yang."

Qrow frowned deeply. "I'd rather not ask my niece to go on a dangerous mission."

"Better than the front line," he reasoned without much confidence. Yang was much safer with an army and her team than with the two of them. Especially if the weapon Cinder was developing was as dangerous as they heard.

"That's also an issue," Qrow started, "it'll take a five days for any team bigger than thirty to come here from the line, and if you're theory about Cinder's distraction is right..."

"Then we definitely don't have five days." Jaune finished.

"Exactly," Qrow said depressingly.


	7. Catcher in the Rye-ven

_"There you are."_

 _He didn't bother to look. He just picked up the bottle with his right hand and took a swig. The silence was ruined as he started coughing, a grimace forming in his face._

 _"This tastes like absolute shit," he said. "Absolute burning piss-in-a-bottle type shit."_

 _"Then why drink it?"_

 _"Because I want it to taste good... because I want to drink more."_

 _She stared sadly. "Please come with me. The roof isn't safe for a drunk guy."_

 _"I'm not drunk enough." He glanced at the empty space where his left arm once was. "It's suppose to take the pain away... but it still hurts."_

 _"It's... it's gonna hurt for a while." She looked at her right arm, which, similar to his own case, was gone. "It'll haunt you for a while."_

 _"Hehe... of course." He took a deep swig and started to cough violently. He then threw the bottle off the roof. "Done!" he called triumphantly, turning to his side and grabbing an unopened bottle. "Now for this baby."_

 _"Is that..." she trailed off._

 _He finally looked at her. "Qrow's favorite. He said he was saving it for your birthday."_

 _"Why do you have it if it's mine?"_

 _"You're here too, aren't you? Or am I hallucinating already?"_

 _She didn't respond._

 _"Great," he muttered, "I'm hallucinating." He grabbed the top of the bottle and tried to open it. Laughing as he accidentally knocked it over by his lack of grip. "Oh fantastic! I can't even open the damn bottle."_

 _"I'm sorry," she said softly._

 _"Huh?"_

 _She mumbled it again._

 _"Did you go mute?"_

 _"I said I'm sorry!" she yelled._

 _He nodded. "That's better. It's not natural to see you this shy, firecracker."_

 _"It's my fault... how could I be so stupid?" She looked absolutely ashamed, almost tearful._

 _"If you ask me," he started, a grin forming on his face, "it sounds like you need a drink, and I have quite the proposition for you."_

 _She laughed slightly. "And what is that, hotshot?"_

 _"Well I can't open this damn bottle with only my right arm, and you can't with only your left arm. But with our powers combined... we can conquer this wretched seal and enter the warm embrace of intoxication together."_

 _"Wow. You're lame," she said with a laugh._

 _"Be lame with me."_

 _She smiled, a full blown smile befitting of her beauty._

 _"Battle buddies?" she questioned, holding her only arm out in a fist._

 _He bumped her fist with his own lone fist._

 _"Battle buddies."_

* * *

 **The Catcher in the Rye-ven**

* * *

The first thing I could clearly understand was that I was numb.

Not the comfortable, warm numb of being drunk that took away all my problems. Or even the relaxing embrace of morphine that made me sink into a cloud of positive vibes and euphoria.

No, this was a numb not created by any drug. This was a numb that made me miss feeling—made me miss living.

It scared me.

* * *

When coherency finally came to me, which could have taken an hour or a few days—it was quite the numb —it finally occurred to me.

I was not, in fact, born with this numb felling and I did, in fact, have something happen to me to get these feelings.

Oh yeah, I was in the epicenter of an assassination disguised as a terrorist attack.

"So this feeling must be death," I concluded, just because I wanted to know if I could even speak. My voice was hoarse, not something I expected in the afterlife.

"Think again," Lisa's voice said from nearby.

"Great," I mumbled as I slowly got up, covering my eyes with my hand, "there's still work to do—people to slay. Absolutely wonderful!" The sarcasm was dripping from my tone.

I yawned loudly, the numb making me want to fall asleep.

"Did we get away Lisa?" I asked. "I'm not sure what happened, but I'm no stranger to concussions."

"The VNN aren't nearby if that's what you mean."

"So we're in the clear? Finally."

"Think again."

I finally opened my eyes.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Fuck," I summed up. "Lisa... we're so dead."

I kept my eyes on the figure in front of me, but I could see Lisa in my peripheral. We were in the middle of nowhere from the look of things. Nothing but the rocky terrain around us.

"Joan you've been out for two days. I had forty eight hours to conclude that we're dead. I think I've already come to terms with it anyways." It stung because I knew she wasn't lying—she wasn't connected to my Semblance at all.

Not that I blamed her.

Her body was striking beautiful—and that was the understatement of the century. The dress she wore was different than anything I've seen before and it was tough not to notice the menacing sword on her hip.

And, despite the eerily accurate Grimm mask on, I knew exactly what the face framed by her black mane looked like.

I fell in love with that face—the same face of Yang.

"What do you want?" I asked, surprised with how I could sound annoyed despite the situation I was in.

She didn't respond. The only reason I knew she wasn't a statue was that it was so quiet I could hear her breathing slightly.

"You know each other?" Lisa asked.

"Meh."

From the eye slots of her mask, I saw her red eyes blink.

It erupted into a fight.

My fist crashed into her sheath, sending her stumbling back. I ducked as she drew her sword and sliced with so much power it sounded like a gunshot.

My prosthetic glowed as I channeled Aura into it and slammed my fist into the ground. Earth exploded from underneath us. I twisted around and smashed my foot into a large rock that was dislodged into the air from my punch.

The rock shattered and sent hundreds of projectiles towards her. A portal appeared in front of her and the rocks flew in. A sudden chill in the back of my neck was the only indication as I dove out of the way of my own attack—she transported them behind me.

I quickly brought by left arm up and batted her sword away. From the ground I flipped onto my feet and sidestepped away from another slash.

I sent my foot right towards her midsection, but she grabbed it with unbelievable reflexes and flung me away. I skipped across the ground like a rock across a pond.

On the last bounce I righted myself and dug my left arm into the ground—tearing into the ground to lose momentum.

The shock wave was practically visible as she erupted from her spot and rushed towards me. I stood my ground with my Aura flaring around me.

Right as my fist and her blade was about to collide my body exploded with Aura.

She was sent flying away, and I sent a blast of Aura bigger than a Bullhead rocketing after her.

In midair she righted herself and slashed her sword into the sphere.

Any other person—normal or not—wouldn't be able to even scratch a ball of condensed Aura.

She was a freak of nature, however, and cut right through it...

But I knew that. I could see her eyes widen as the Aura blast split and I was right in front of her. She raised her sword but we both knew she wasn't going to get out of it unscathed.

So she wasn't going to let me get out unscathed.

My glowing fist smashed into her mask right and a millisecond later her sword sliced straight through my arm. Her mask flew off her face, revealing a face I had seen many times before except with blonde hair.

I didn't miss a beat, and sadly neither did she. I dug my foot into the ground and used my go-to attack against a smaller opponent.

Her breath left her as I charged straight into her with my shoulder. I rammed her into the ground, but before I could back off she kicked my shin and sent me to the dirt.

Out speeding her was practically impossible. She was on her feet in less than a second and had her sword flying towards me.

I tried to raise my prosthetic, but I forgot it was separated from the elbow down.

Well twenty eight years was a good run...

Her sword shifted and cut right through my left shoulder—taking the rest of my arm off.

Damn it. I lost.

She kicked me in the chest, forcing me to stay on my back.

"Why did you save me?" I growled. "You took the both of us from the explosion before it could kill us—which means you had to be watching us... why?"

She didn't respond.

"Silent treatment? Really Rav—"

Her sword was at my nose.

"How do you know my name?" she demanded.

Some people never change. I had to consider my next words very carefully or else she'd kill me without batting an eye.

I still had to protect Lisa as well. Nope, death was not an option.

There was no way I'd say I was an associate of Qrow. She'd probably kill me on principle if I was. Not that she didn't care for her brother deep down inside... she just hated him more.

She was trying to pretend Yang didn't exist, so that was too sore of a subject to bring up.

I wish I could say I knew Summer, but that was impossible.

I had no clue what her relationship with Tai was. They had a kid, obviously, but she left and Tai moved on rather quickly...

Fuck it. What else was I gonna say? Ozpin?

Hell no.

"I'm a good friend of Tai," I said. "In fact, I blame him for getting me into this situation so please take this up with him instead of me."

"Your arm," she growled, not even acknowledging Tai's name. "How did you get it?"

Oh.

Well shit.

It wasn't that I forgot about my arm—it's tough to forget that one of my limbs was a fake. The issue was I never expected to run into her.

And Raven Branwen knew things.

I glanced at my detached limb. The top layer was metal that matched the tone of my skin fairly well, but deeper inside was a grey metal and the core...

Inside it was a black, almost tar looking filling that had veins of white material that somewhat looked like bone that with red markings on it.

Eerily similar to Raven's mask.

And eerily similar to a Grimm.

"Grimm..." Lisa breathed out.

"Lisa, It's not Grimm, or at least not the Grimm that you think. It's different. It's—"

"It's something only my tribe should know of," Raven said, cutting me off. "I could sense it in you..."

"Is that why you took us here?" I asked.

She didn't respond.

"Rav—"

"Tell me how!" she demanded.

I made eye contact with Lisa, and then Raven.

Why can I never get a break? I had bigger priorities than dealing with Raven and fake news. Cinder was a real issue and that didn't even include Salem and her stupid boy band of freaks.

"Well... Lisa you would find out eventually, so I guess this is alright. Raven... well screw it Raven you're too good to not hear this, I suppose. Consider yourself lucky." I took a deep breath and looked at her as seriously as I could. "I'm a time traveler."

She kicked me in the ribs.

"Wrong answer!" She yelled through my pained groans. "Tell me the truth!"

"I got it from you're fucking tribe!" I yelled back. "In the future! You're not the one in charge in five years so don't consider it impossible! There's a less reclusive leader once you stopped... doing you."

I wasn't dead, so she must have believed me a little.

"Who?"

"You're daughter," I admitted, actually telling the truth. "Look, let me explain all the relevant details and why I'm here so we can cut a deal or something. Just please don't be selfish and demanding when I have so much more important priorities to deal with than this bullshit!" The rage behind my words was easily noted by the both of them.

I had a mission to do. There was no point explaining a future that will never happen as long as I finish my job!

If I kill Cinder then BAM! Beacon will stand, everyone will live, I'll have an arm and all that jazz. Why did everyone care so much about the future when they agreed to help me change it anyways?

Sure, they wanted to know their fate, but it wasn't some sort of blessing to know what will happen to you in ten years.

It was a curse. Nobody should know how their life will turn out or else they would just give up and let it happen. There was no way I'd tell someone their future without any rhyme or reason. Of course then Raven had to come along and beat my convictions out of me—beat the darkest secrets out of me.

"You have quite the tongue despite the sword at your nose."

"You're old," I retorted back, thanking my inner twelve year old for giving me the courage and thanking Qrow for telling me what pissed his sister off.

I could hear Lisa sigh.

"Not again!" I cried in pain as Raven drove her sword into my shoulder. "Why always there!? Can people just stab me in the brain rather than the damn shoulder!? I'll never play softball ever—"

"Stop the bullshit!" she yelled as she twisted the blade inside of me.

"Right right right!" she stopped and I took a deep breath, cursing every god I could think of. "Basically, in a simplified manner, by your tribe rules Yang can, and did, challenge you to a fight for leadership since she's your heir. She beat you, became the leader and helped us fight Cinder Fall, the crazy bitch whose taking all the Maiden power. There. You happy?"

"No."

"Fantastic! What else do you want? My Scroll number? My social security? The Grimm Study essay you spent a week writing that Qrow stole and put his name on? Cause he still has it, he hangs it on his fridge."

"Qrow," Raven growled, her anger seemingly going from me to him, which I really appreciated. "Only he can make something simple into something so complicated."

"Don't tell him I told you about the essay... please. He told me to keep it a secret."

She grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up. Lisa walked over, seemingly unafraid, as Raven glared at me dangerously.

"Where is my brother?" she demanded. "My sword and I have a few questions for him."

Lisa shrugged when Raven looked at her.

I shrugged as well. "He ran off with Tai to work on other leads. They're probably getting drunk somewhere and not even finding out that literally everything that has ever happened is fake."

"Not everything," Lisa defended, "we reported on real things... just a lot of fake things as well."

I looked at Lisa blandly. Like that helped at all.

"That bastard," Raven cursed angrily. "When I leaked the information to Cyril I expected him to find it out. Not some apparent time traveler who just happens to know my daughter and tribe."

So Raven told Cyril about the VNN... interesting. Neither Qrow or Tai never mentioned anything about fake news in the future, so it was safe to assume that they didn't know about it. Did they... did they just not talk to Cyril because they thought he wasn't a valuable source of information? They did tell me they didn't expect him to know much, but surely they were good enough spies that...

Who was I kidding? They were busy people with difficult jobs. Missing one informant due to constraints wasn't surprising, especially with all the Maiden shit going on during this time. To think the person they missed had information leading to the revelation that the VNN faking stories... that's the surprising part.

Or maybe they were bought by the news instead and—

Paranoia, please stop.

"So you believe me?" I let out a sigh of relief.

"No!" she snapped back instantly. "I do not trust you, but I know my brother is not foolish enough to ever talk about the tribe to an outsider."

"Fine... fine. You don't have to trust me, but this issue is bigger than the both of us and I have no clue what the fuck to do about it."

"I leaked the information with the intention of making it not my problem anymore," she said.

"No!" I decided to snap back, similar to the way she did. "Look, as much as I hate how bad this situation is, I just can't do it! This isn't something that can be solved in a day and there is no way I'm ruining my chance for a problem you don't want to do!"

"So you're just gonna leave it?"

"After ten years of fighting I finally won!" I yelled, hand in the air. "I won! I beat Cinder and brought peace to this planet! Yet not even ten seconds later I wake up and the nightmare has started all over from the beginning! All the sacrifice... all the fighting is for nothing now. Absolutely fucking nothing," I snarled bitterly, "I promised people—I promised your daughters—that I would stop Cinder. I need to do it again, and an Arc never breaks his promises. So no, Raven, I can't help you with this."

She stared.

Then Lisa sighed.

"Raven... he's a no go, it seems."

I turned to look at her but Raven's sheath slammed into my nose before I could even open my mouth.

* * *

"Did you have to break his nose?" Lisa asked as Joan collapsed to the ground, unconscious. "People can die from that."

"His Aura will protect him," Raven assured, before glaring at the prone form. "I hope it leaves his nose crooked for the rest of his life."

"That's acceptable. Well what now? I still think I should let him take me to his group. There are some powerful people there, powerful enough to help us with our predicament. Joan's bleeding heart is apparently more cold than I thought, but he'll still let me in."

"If you're going to do that anyways why ask?"

Lisa smiled charismatically. "Why? Because we've been partners for years, Raven. It would be impolite to not ask for your opinion even though I know you're not one for manners. You've been my informant since before I got the VNN job, so I value your opinion."

"Ozpin alone is a massive help," Raven said, "my old team will also prove to be helpful as long as they aren't pissing around doing delinquent activities. This man is powerful," she eyed the downed form, "he could match me in battle seconds after waking up, and his obvious hero complex will make it so he'll help if it goes too sideways. He's trying to save the world and is simply prioritizing."

"You think he'll have any hard feelings? You did just cut off his arm"

Raven picked up the two pieces of arm and held them in each hand. "Watch," she said as she held the parts close to each other. Black tendrils shot from the two pieces and snapped them back into one full arm. She then placed it by Joan, and the same thing happen, except this time it connected the arm to his shoulder.

"Interesting," Lisa said.

"That sways to believe his is from a different time. How troublesome."

"I actually quite like it... could be the story of the year."

"Even though you tote fake stories constantly, I'm fairly certain this would be the story nobody believes."

* * *

When I woke up I had a headache and my nose was considerably sore.

"You up?" I heard Lisa from nearby.

"Yeah Lisa, I'm up." I sat up and realized we were in a field, this time grassy and beautiful. I recognized the area, it was the Agriculture District of Vale, my home. "What happened?"

"Raven knocked you out."

"I already guessed that," I said blandly. "Do you know why she did and not just, I don't know... kill me?"

"She was angry at you and hit you. Other than that I have no clue who she is... she scares me."

I sighed. "I agree. She's real scary."

"Well, there's no point in dallying around. I guess we just continue on the original path, this time from a different location." She stared into the distance, where Beacon Tower was visible. "This is a better location than the middle of a crowded city with the VNN watching.'

"Again, I agree." I stared. "Getting to Beacon from here isn't an easy task. The fastest route included a lot of hiking and climbing. You're pretty agile in those shoes, but are you up for that?"

She thought for a second.

"No, I guess not."

"Luckily I have a solution."

* * *

"Glynda!" I yelled as I stormed through Beacon's hall. "Glynda come here right now! I need your help!"

I approached the door to her combat class and right as I was about to open the door and yell it slid open—revealing my target.

"What do you want?" she demanded as her class looked on curiously.

"I just discovered the most devastating thing to ever happen in the entire Remnant... it's bad."

Her glare stayed.

I leaned in close. "I met Raven motherfucking Branwen," I whispered.

Glynda sighed deeply.

"Fine. Let's go to Ozpin."

* * *

"—to think they would orchestrate a public bombing just to kill the both of you," Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, "rather troubling."

"FUBAR Ozpin. This entire planet is FUBAR now."

"For us, yes. We can no longer look at the world the same again now that we are privy to such information. However, the public does not know nor should they know."

I was conflicted but still nodded. "What should we do then" I asked. "This is big. The news organizations need to be stopped, but the most effective way will cause disaster."

If the information Lisa had about the fake stories came to light the outcry would be devastating. Just thinking of the amount of Grimm that would be attracted by the sheer negative emotion alone made me shiver.

So many smaller towns would be toast if even half the expected outrage happened. Leaking the info wasn't an option.

Ozpin stared at the coffee left in his mug.

"Joan..." Glynda started, "I am not sure how to deal with this. This problem has been around longer than we have, and I'm not sure we have the power to fix it."

"Then who does?" I questioned even though I agreed. "We're some of the most influential and powerful people the Remnant working together to better the world. Who else has a better chance than we do?"

"We are," Ozpin agreed, "but remember that we are trying to stop Cinder from destroying everything. The VNN isn't attempting world domination right now, so perhaps we should let them be for now until the biggest threat is gone."

He was right and I completely agreed. The world could go another year with fake information and not explode... but it still felt wrong.

"Well remember the entire reason we're doing this mission," I reasoned. "We needed a plug in the news that could help us defame Adam Taurus. Lisa is that plug, but she's preoccupied with this. Also don't forget Raven... this might just be our opportunity to bring her onto our side."

"Where is she?" Glynda asked.

"Raven is out doing Raven things, so who knows. She'll probably just show up when she wants to. As for Lisa, it was too dangerous to take her to Beacon, so I took her somewhere quiet for the time being."

I thought for a second.

"Well... kinda quiet. Depends how you look at it, really."

* * *

"That's so cool that you can travel everywhere!" eleven year old Julia yelled as she bounced around Lisa excitedly.

"I actually stay in Vale most of the time..." the reporter admitted.

"You're still awesome!"

Lisa gave the girl the best smile she could and looked at Isabelle Arc. "Isn't she suppose to be in school?"

"She was so excited that there was a guest over she forgot to go..."

Lisa blinked as she struggled to comprehend _how._

* * *

The more I thought about it, the worse I felt for Lisa. In fact, I felt like I shared her pain a little.

"Joan!" Ruby called as I gauged my options. I was in the line of the lunchroom trying to get some much needed food, and as much as I liked Ruby, I was so damn hungry. I couldn't move out of the way, as that would make the poor girl slam into a counter.

She slammed into me and I couldn't even sigh as my breath left me... as did my chocolate pudding all over the place.

"Hi Ruby," I said, unable to stop my lips from curling upwards. In ten years she was so much different, yet still the same. Somehow she remained genuine to herself despite everything that will happen... and that made me so happy.

"Watcha doing?" she asked as she span on her toes, laughing nervously at the looks she got from her display. "You uh... eating food. That's good. Food is good."

"Yes Ruby, food is good." I stared at her with the straightest face I could muster for at least seven seconds before basically giggling (but I'm a manly man so it's considered chuckling).

"Hey! Am I wrong?"

"No no! You're completely right." I looked down at my plate of food, my sandwich had pudding on it and the pain on my hand was the steaming coffee burning into it. "Food is great..."

Ah well. Better than rations.

"Come sit with us!" At her table some waved (Nora, Yang and Jaune), some nodded (Ren and Pyrrha), some just looked (Weiss, because apparently she's too fancy to wave or something) and some pretended not to notice at all (Blake, but she had her book down and was devouring her tuna sandwich, which was probably a bigger sign than waving).

"Alright," I replied pleasantly, "if you guys don't mind."

"Of course we don't!" she exclaimed as she grabbed by sleeve and started to drag me (she made me spill more coffee, but this time on my prosthetic). "Why would we ever mind?"

I could think of at least twenty instances where they couldn't stand to look at me for either being a a horrible person or telling a horrible pun (mostly puns). However I just stayed silently since she didn't remember any of those—well she shouldn't remember because they never happened. Semantics.

"Hey buddy!" Yang greeted as we arrived.

"What's up, pal?" I asked as I sat down between her and Blake (for awhile one of Blake's many quirks was keeping an empty seat on either side of her). "Life treating ya well?"

"Yeah, pretty well," Yang replied, "how about you? You've been gone for a while."

"Just doing my job. It's been a long couple of days."

"Does it involve the failed robbery?" Weiss asked.

Luckily, instead of a crowd the van decided to follow us into an alleyway that happened to be behind a jewelry shop. The VNN reported that a Dust powered machine exploded inside of the van, killing all of the robbers inside.

Bad luck for bad people. Better than a White Fang attack, but still utter bullshit.

"I was right next to it," I admitted. "It sucked."

"Are you alright?"a concerned Blake asked from next to me, her breath reeking of tuna.

"Just a bit banged up. My shoulder still aches, but I doubt it's from the blast."

"That's good."

"I guess it is. Now, why are we talking about me? I'm old. How are you youngins doing at school?"

"School's great!" Ruby said excitedly. "We're like the bestest team ever!"

"Bestest," Blake muttered underneath her breath, disappointed.

"JNPR's better... bester," Jaune countered.

Ruby stared him down. "Nope!"

"Nope to you!"

"No! Nope to you!"

"Nope to your nope, so nope!"

They started their own little argument of why their team is the 'bestest' there is.

"Kids," I muttered with a smile, watching the two leaders banter, "reminds me of my days..."

"Please don't go Professor Port on us," Yang begged.

"I won't. They don't teach story telling like that in school."

"What school did you go to?" Pyrrha asked.

"I went to Beacon for a year, actually."

Weiss raised and eyebrow. "Only for a year? In fact I'm surprised you made it into the Atlas Military without going to their own combat academy."

"I had to leave Beacon before my first year ended," I admitted. "After that I traveled for a bit before General Ironwood decided he wanted to employ me. I've basically been married to the job ever since."

"So are you even a registered Huntsman?" Blake asked.

I froze.

Was I?

"Umm..." My mouth just hung open as I thought.

Well I never graduated, but surely becoming a general, and eventually grand commander, of the entire Remnant's fighting force automatically made me a Huntsman. Actually I never even got my hunting license...

"Yeah! Of course I'm a Huntsman!" I answered with the biggest smile I could muster. "There are other ways to get certified... I think." I muttered the last part, but I was fairly certain Blake could hear me (her bow twitched ever so slightly).

"So how was Beacon when you were here?" my younger counterpart asked.

"Exactly the same. Tests, homework, boring lectures... the issues you guys have is exactly the same as ten years ago. A lot of things change but so much stays the same. Beacon's exactly how I remember it." Well before it got destroyed, but they didn't have to know that.

"I hear about how you work their uncle," Jaune noted, referring to Ruby and Yang, " and Weiss' sister, but you've never mentioned your team."

"My team?"

"Yeah, at Beacon."

Well, time for some misinformation.

JNPR... last names... AVNL. Avenol? Wasn't that a type of medicine?

I gave a small laugh as it hit me. "AVLN, Avalon. The 'A' is or Arc."

"So you were the leader?" Ruby excitedly asked.

"That's how it works. I was the worst choice for leader though. I could barely swing my sword when I got here. If it wasn't for my partner I would've splattered against the ground during the first trial of initiation. Heh... she had some impressive aim."

"Had?" Ren questioned quietly.

My smile didn't turn bitter. I accepted her death a long time ago.

"Yeah, had. My partner died before the end of our first year. We left Beacon after that and decided to do our own thing for a while. My other two teammates died just around... six months ago. Dang... has it actually been that long?"

Work was just so time consuming I never had time to properly mourn Ren and Nora. My plan was that if they were to die I was suppose to have a giant pancake festival and get as drunk as possible...

I really needed to do that. The more I thought about them the more I needed to get shit faced and eat pancakes.

Looking around, I realized I brought a morbid tone to the table. I shrugged at the few horrified gazed they were sending my way.

"See? You talk about me and it gets depressing. Old people don't have fun lives, and I'm basically a dinosaur compared to you guys."

Yang rolled her eyes. "If anything, you're pretty young compared to Blake. She has the mentality of one of those old cat ladies." She smirked at Blake's scathing glare. "What? All you do is read or complain about not being able to read. 'Turn the lights off I'm trying to read!' or 'the neighbors are too loud I can't read!'"

I laughed. "She's cute though, so she still has a chance."

"Yup!" Yang agreed with a big nod. "She just needs to get laid!"

Blake's anger was instantly overcome with embarrassment as she looked away, blushing.

"See that, Joan? She's even cuter when she blushes!"

"I know, Yang! That bow increases the cute level by at least seventeen percent!"

"What are you talking about? At least thirty!"

We both laughed as Blake tried to pull a Cinder and incinerate us with her glare alone. It didn't work, thankfully, and it only made us want to taunt her more.

Wow, it was nice to spend time with Yang again. She really was a ray of sunshine in the shit show that was life.

"Poor Blake," Ruby muttered, "but at least it isn't me for once."

She yelped as Yang's focused onto her. "Don't worry, my dearest most adorable little sister! I always have time to gush over your cuteness!"

"Uhh... yay?" she said with a confused look on her face, giving a weak smile.

"Oh you're adorable!" Yang enveloped her sister in a massive hug. "Do you want a cookie? You deserve a cookie! You deserve a thousand cookies for being so damn lovable!"

I chuckled at the sisterly affection.

"Imagine living with this," Weiss said to Pyrrha, who nodded sympathetically.

"Come on, Weiss," I said with a knowing grin. "I know you love cuddle time with your sister more than anybody."

"W-what are you talking about!" her red faced contrasted wonderfully with her hair. "Both Winter and I are professionals and would never partake in such simpleto-"

"There's pictures, Weiss."

Weiss was speechless.

"Where?" Yang demanded. "I want all the blackmail on little Weissicle!"

"Next time I see Winter I'll for sure try to get some," I promised. "She has an entire album of cute Weiss photos on her Scroll. It's actually pretty heartwarming."

My Scroll started going crazy.

I lifted the ringing device and rose an eyebrow. "Huh. Speak of the devil and she shall appear, it seems."

"What?"

"I made it so my Scroll goes off every time Winter is within five hundred feet of me. It gives me enough time to run and hide. I like playing hide and seek with her... she doesn't as much."

"My sister's here!?" Weiss literally squeaked.

My Scroll rang again.

"Oh. And that's the alarm I get when someone breaks into my liquor safe. That must mean Qrow's here too."

"My uncle's here!?" Ruby squeaked in a similar fashion.

Conversation around us started to die and I looked towards the entrance to the cafeteria. Ozpin was walking in. He glanced at me and gestured behind him.

"Well something's going on," I said as I stood up and grabbed my food. "Well guys, it was nice to speak to you all. We can catch up more after... after whatever's happening happens."

* * *

"That's the grossest sandwich I've ever seen," Qrow said as I walked in.

"You're the grossest sandwich I've ever seen," I retorted.

Winter shook her head. "You guys are the worst Huntsman I've ever seen."

"Don't even talk, Winter!" I countered. "Don't make me bring up you're attempt at cooking!"

She glared but didn't respond, a slight flush to her cheeks.

She looked cute. I smiled at her. "It's good to see you, partner."

"Likewise."

Qrow grimaced. "Get that weak shit out of here."

"That's the real bachelor speaking right there," I said. "When you get home have fun sleeping alone in your cold, lonely bed."

"Same for you, hotshot," he rolled his eyes, "that's why we get drunk—obviously."

I gave him a peculiar look before nodding sagely. "Now I remember the reason I like you so much... you preach the realist shit."

"My point still stands."

"Quiet Winter! Don't ruin the moment!"

"What moment!?"

I wrapped my arm around Qrow's shoulder. "We were about to talk about the joys of being alcoholics."

"You're both pathetic," she said simply.

"So?" Qrow's smile was dangerous. "There must be a reason we're better Hunter's than you are... it must be the alcohol. Or perhaps you have a better reason?"

"Damn Qrow," I faux whispered, "chill with that. You're gonna melt the snow angel."

"Absolutely insufferable," she declared.

"Nah," I waved her off, "you'll marry me eventually."

Her glare went into the negatives. "A-absolutely not!"

"We'll see about that!" I said teasingly.

Before she could respond Ozpin had finished talking to Glynda and finally turned to address us. "Now we can start," he said. "You see, Winter, we have a proposition for you."

"And that is, sir?"

"We have some rather particular people working toward some rather particular goals. We have seen fit to offer you a spot in our little group."

She glanced at me, and I only smirked.

* * *

 **Authors note: this chapter is shorter, in comparison, to my others, and I think the length of future chapters will stay perhaps a tad longer than this. Let me know if this, 6.3k, or 10k, is better.**

 **Also I have no clue if Raven is apart of a bandit tribe (I've seen a few stories with that), or like actual tribal shit. The whole arm bit will most likely not be too relevant—it's part of the story to highlight that Joan did, indeed, have an entire decade of adventure that's only going to be glossed over. The whole story of his arm, was a past adventure, the unwritten prequel to the actual story.**

 **And speaking of prequel, here's an omake.**

* * *

 _Joan Arc and the Weapon of Doom, Part 2_

* * *

 ** _Four years into the war_** _,_ _General Jaune Arc was tasked with finding a super weapon being secretly developed in Vacuo. His mission, despite being one of his most daring and heroic, is classified and was not even recorded digitally. It is a hidden story of perseverance, revenge and how there are no true winners in war._

* * *

The tape did little to stop the muffled screaming.

"Holy shit shut up!" Jaune yelled as he jabbed The Scientist in the side. The inventor was tied up with a sack over his head and a large piece of duct tape covering his mouth. "Bro, this will only be worse for you if you keep screaming!"

Another muffled scream.

"No! I'm not going to hurt you if you scream! It'll just hurt your throat, dude. I don't have any cough drops and neither does my friend." He turned and looked from the back of the truck to the driver. "Right friend? No cough drops or ice cream?"

"Shut up and let me drive!" Qrow yelled. "We're being chased so stop the small talk!"

"Hey! I'm trying to be a good host and treat our esteemed guest to a nice conversation! That's the least we should do for kidnapping him!"

A nod and a muffled noise.

"Thank you! See? He agrees!"

"Oh well that's absolutely wonderful! Fan-fucking-tastic! I got some booze in the trunk if you two want to pour one out and become drinking buddies!"

A bullet flew into the driver's side view mirror.

"Nah, you're my only drinking buddy," Jaune said as he reached into the passenger seat and grabbed Qrow's weapon. "How do I make this a gun?"

"There's a switch."

"Ah yes, a switch." Jaune hopped into the passengers seat and started to fiddle with the weapon. "I don't see any switch."

"What do you mean dumbass!? It's right there!"

"You fucking made it! Is it on the hilt or the blade? I'm not sure!" Jaune reached over and turned the air conditioning all the way up. "There, that's a lot better."

Qrow snatched the weapon from his hands and pressed a switch that Jaune couldn't even see. "Alright, it is kinda tough to notice," he admitted, "but after a few decades it's like a second limb."

"Yeah, yeah... you're senile."

"Don't make me stop this car!"

"Please don't." Jaune leaned out the window and aimed Qrow's scythe at the convoy of enemy vehicles following them. He carefully aimed, making sure he made the most bang for his buckshot.

He fired and hit the engine of a truck. It exploded and flew into an armored car, causing an even bigger explosion that took out three more vehicles.

Qrow adjusted his rear view mirror. "Nice shot, kid."

Jaune didn't respond as he lined up his next shot.

Suddenly his Scroll started ringing.

"Hello?" he asked as he sat back in the passenger's seat.

 _"Wazzup homie?"_ Yang greeted, holding up a peace sign.

"Not much, top dog," he responded with a smile, tilting his Scroll so Qrow was in the camera's view. "Your uncle's here with me."

"Hey dragon," Qrow greeted with an affectionate smile.

 _"Hi! Jaune, are you getting drunk with my uncle again?"_

Jaune chuckled. "You know him better than I do, Yang. You should know that he's a fucking beast!"

Yang hummed in response. _"So whatchu been up too? It's been boring since you left. They're not letting me fight and I don't have my favorite boy toy to mess around with."_

Qrow glared. "Hey!"

 _"Shut up uncle! Get your mind out of the gutter!"_

"Just hold on a little longer, we can hang out as soon as we deal with—" an explosion erupted about twenty meters in front of them that they drove straight through. The glass of the windshield cracked as they emerged from the other side of the blast. "—with the people trying to kill us."

 _"So you've been up to no good, huh?"_

"We've been up to too much good! They," he stuck his Scroll out the window, "are the ones up to no good."

 _"Ah, I see. Keep your party pants on cause I want to get some of that Mad Max action."_

"You better hurry then. Oh! Look what we got you guys!" He reached his Scroll into the back seats. "Ignore the tied up guy. Actually, say hi!"

 _"Hey buddy."_

The Scientist gave a muffled noise in response that actually sounded like a pleasant 'hello'.

"Look next to the guy, Yang, by his head."

 _"Is that a..."_ she leaned closer to her Scroll, _"chainsaw?"_

"Yessir it is! Guess where we got that from?"

 _"You know, that makes me want to kiss you."_

"Shut up!" Qrow yelled.

"Fuck off, Qrow! Just because you're old and ugly doesn't mean us young people can't flirt!"

 _"Yeah Qrow! Hey Jaune, I'll definitely give you that kiss if you hand me that chainsaw yourself."_

Jaune reached Qrow's gun out the window and stared at the side view mirror—aiming and destroying another truck. "Now we have to make it out of this. I wouldn't dare miss an opportunity like this... not for anything."

 _"Please stay safe. We're on our way."_

He smirked.

"You know us, Yang! We're the definition of safe!"

"Yeah, don't worry!" Qrow gave a laugh, "This time I'm driving only slightly intoxicated!"

 _"Hehe... that's an improvement. I love the both of you. Be there soon."_

"Love you, firecracker," Qrow said.

"Same, love you too, battle buddy."

The connection went dead.

I sighed. "Wow... we're so fucked."

"Yup. Fucked with a capital fuck."

"Heh. You're funny," Jaune said with a chuckle.

"Yes I am... old my ass."

"You can be old and funny. They're not mutually exclusive."

"Piss off!"


	8. Fahrenheit 1381

"There is absolutely no way that's it."

"Believe it, Snowflake."

The White Fang guard banged the space between us. "Be quiet or I'll muzzle the both of you!" he warned.

Winter shushed him before looking at me. "You're telling me, with a straight face, that you own a few iterations of your uniform, a single hoodie, a single pair of jeans and rabbit pajamas?"

"Bunny, Winter," I iterated, "they're bunny pajamas. There's a difference."

"Care to tell me?"

I shrugged and looked at the White Fang agent sitting next to me. "Hey buddy, what's the difference between a rabbit and a bunny?"

"Do you not understand the situation you're in?" he asked with a glare.

I shrugged again. Sure, we were both in chains in the back of a White Fang truck. Most likely we were going to a base where torture and death awaited us.

It really wasn't that much of a problem.

"Do you understand the difference between a bunny and a rabbit? Not to be racist—I absolutely hate racism—but it just feels like you would know more than us."

"Just assuming he knows animals more than you do is racist, Joan."

"Really Winter? Why do you assume that I assumed he knew more because he was a Faunus? Maybe I thought he was into those kind of things. If anything, that makes you the racist one!"

"You brought up racism!"

"I just told the guy I hate racism! Me asking him about rabbits and racism are two separate clauses!"

"You're not serious," she said, meeting my eyes in a fierce stare down.

After a minute I caved.

"Alright... I not being serious. But yeah, that's my entire closet. I haven't had a lot of time to go shopping since I came here."

"I actually will muzzle you," the White Fang guy warned, "it's not an empty threat."

"You're irrelevant," Winter told him, before focusing her attention back on me. "We need to change that. Every gentleman needs a fine suit to wear in case the occasion arises."

"But what occasions do you think I'll get into? Unfortunately I'm a fighter, not a lover."

She thought for a moment, before giving a small shrug of her own. "Perhaps you're current life style does avoid such situations," she admitted, "but what if you have to go to a restaurant for a date or meeting? Showing up in jeans is basically screaming you don't care."

"Alright, then we have a date."

"What?" she asked, a delicate eyebrow raised.

"What?" the White Fang echoed.

I smiled at her. "You're right, I do need a suit in case I go on a date. So in order to warrant getting a suit lets go on a date together. Me, you, whatever fancy store you take me to and whatever fancy restaurant you take me to—cause you definitely have finer tastes than I do."

"When I said date I didn't mean taking me on a date!"

"You're like the only girl I talk to. Who else would I ask on a date?"

She stuttered nonsense as her blush increased.

"Alright," she agreed after a few moments, finally composing herself. "I have two very good places in mind."

"Yes!" I cheered, holding my cuffed hands up to the White Fang guard. "Bump me, brother!"

He actually bumped fists with me.

"No Italian though," I said.

"Why not?" she asked with a frown. "It's delicious."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well unless you tell me we're going to best Italian place in the entire Remnant."

"Fine!" I caved again. "I agree it's delicious, but I always, without a doubt, will order spaghetti and meatballs if they have it. My mom made the greatest spaghetti ever so now I'm hooked. The issue is nobody can eat spaghetti and look dignified."

Winter brought her cuffed hands up and covered her mouth as she started laughing.

"Hey! It's true!"

"No it's not!" she said between giggles. "I can eat spaghetti perfectly fine."

"So no noodles hanging out of your mouth?"

"Of course!"

"No sauce on the corners of your lips?"

"Obviously."

"No slurping the noodles up?"

"I have manners!"

"Nope, no ways that's humanly possible," I argued, turning to the White Fang. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah, he's right. I'm calling bullshit," he agreed.

"I can!" Winter insisted. "It's really not that tough—it's all in the wrist."

"Fine! We'll go to an Italian place and you can put your money—or spaghetti—where your mouth is!"

"And when I prove you wrong?"

"Then you get to..." I sighed deeply. "I'll let you cut my hair."

Her expression brightened as she laughed maliciously.

Apparently she really didn't like that my hair was kinda just... there. I really never bothered to cut it since I got to this time period, and it was getting pretty scruffy. She insisted that I should at least put some sort of effort in it, as it changed my entire appearance.

"Yessir," I muttered, a tad scared, "I'll let you take me to whatever fancy stylist you want and I'll maintain the cut as long as you want. You basically own my hair, that's the deal."

"That is more than acceptable."

"But," I smirked, "if I win..."

She silently gestured me to go on.

"...I haven't thought that far."

The White Fang agent sighed.

"Oh! I got it!" I chuckled as I looked at her. "If I win I get to spend time with Whitley!"

That little rascal was the best damn GameSphere player I have ever seen!

"No!" she snapped instantly.

"So you can't eat spaghetti!"

"I can! It's just... ah screw it. Fine. You have yourself a deal. However, we can't shake on it with these infernal cuffs on."

A crow's caw could be heard from outside.

"Well Winter, just wait twenty seconds and then we can shake hands."

Our guard looked at the both of us curiously. "What do you mea -"

The armored car we were in was split in half. Straight down the middle.

Momentum sent the two halves of the severed car off the road and into two opposite sides of the forest flanking the road. Both the guard and I, we were on the same side, flew out as it flipped in the air. I smashed into a tree while the guard simply rolled through the grass... lucky bastard.

I could hear gun shots and the White Fang yelling.

After less then ten seconds it was over—the screaming stopped.

Qrow and Winter approached me.

"Good manners Qrow," I complimented.

"Of course. Just because I don't get along with Ice Queen doesn't mean I forgot one of the cardinal rules—ladies first."

The White Fang guard desperately looked around for his weapon, and froze as Qrow leveled his shotgun towards him.

"Chill," I called as I sat up. "That guy is pretty cool."

Winter rolled her eyes.

"Like on our side cool?" Qrow asked.

"No, but cool enough that I'd rather not see him get slaughtered."

"Alright," Qrow put his weapon down.

Winter looked at Qrow dryly. "The plan was to wait until they took us to their base. Then you were to use the trackers we have to find the location."

Qrow took his flask out and took a deep swig before chucking it me. "I got bored," he said, wiping his mouth, "so I decided to scout the forest. I found the base and got even more bored waiting for you two. Ended up taking down the entire thing."

The fact that the forest we were in was one of the largest in the world made me nod in appreciation.

"Nice," I complimented, passing the flask back to him despite my cuffed hands.

"Eh, there wasn't any top ranking people there—only weaklings. The top dogs must have moved to another base."

"Well," I looked at my White Fang friend and smiled brightly at him, "I think our friend here can help us! Mission successful!"

* * *

 **Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"I must not fear," Ren prayed. "Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."_

* * *

 **Fahrenheit** **1381**

* * *

There was a knock at my door.

I frowned and looked at my clock, it was almost midnight.

I opened the door.

"What?"

"Train me!" Jaune yelled.

I never slammed a door so fast in my life.

Right as I was about to pour myself a drink there was another knock.

"What?" I demanded as I opened the door again.

"Train me!" Jaune yelled.

There was now yet another new record for slamming a door.

"Don't be an asshole!"

He was going to wake the neighbors up. As much as I wanted to ignore myself, the memory of Coco when someone interrupted her beauty sleep made me stop in my tracks. Or, even worse, when someone woke _Velvet_ up from a good dream...

Oh hell no. Nope nope nope.

"Come here, kid," I said as I opened the door and dragged him inside. "I haven't even started drinking yet, so you better have the most convincing argument ever."

"It doesn't seem healthy to drink so much."

"Uh huh."

"Joan... you might be an alcoholic."

"Might? No shit Jaune."

"You should... um... stop doing... that?" he phrased awkwardly.

"Well Jaune," I said blandly, "there's a little thing called dependence, which stems from this little thing called addiction. Once you become a pro, or a psychologist, then you can convince me to stop."

"Oh, alright."

There was an awkward silence.

"Sorry Jaune, I'm always a prick in the night." Sleep was tough for me since I had an entire army's worth of PTSD. The two solutions was either Ruby or getting shit faced—and since my Ruby was long gone—liquor was the medicine.

"It's fine. Kinda my fault for knocking so late."

"No, it's not fine. I always have time for you. If I tell you to bugger off then I'm lying. I will always be there for you kid, remember that."

He was the reason I was working so hard. Preserving his innocence was the ultimate success. Joan Arc without war was Jaune Arc. He was me if death and horror didn't plague my entire existence. If Jaune remained Jaune—if he never became me—then that meant I succeeded and I didn't waste my opportunity.

"Thanks. That means a lot. Now... will you train me?"

"No."

"What!?" he opened his mouth and spouted gibberish for a few moments before taking a deep breath. "You basically just said you would always help me no matter what."

"I know. And I am going to help you... ask Pyrrha."

"Wha? I'm asking you!"

"And I'm telling you to ask Pyrrha."

"Why?"

I smirked and sat down on my couch (without four beds the room was decently spacious) and gestured him to sit down as well.

"Well it's a win-win situation if you train with Pyrrha instead of me," I explained. "She is your partner, right?"

"Yeah, she is, but I'm not sure why troubling her is going to help her as well."

"As partners, nobody is going to be by your side more than she is. Even out of Beacon, even though they don't have to, most teams stick together and continue to work as a group until they die or retire. The second the two of you locked eyes you became stuck together for the rest of your lives. You're not going to leave her side and she's not going to leave your side—it's just how it is."

"F-for our entire lives?" Heh. Poor kid looked like he could barely guess what would happen tomorrow, let alone decades into his life.

"Yeah," I answered. "Now if you're going to have her back, and same for her with you, then you guys need a bond that'll last a thousand lifetimes—one that'll last long after you both kick the bucket."

"How?" was all he could ask.

"Well, you're friends aren't you?"

"Yes..."

I chuckled. "Train with her, learn how she operates and let her learn how you operate. If you guys train together constantly you won't be two separate fighters, but one entity that can fight two at once. Same with your team, actually. Develop a teamwork that has everyone knowing exactly what the other will do—being able to trust one another and cover for them without opening a single mouth—and you'll have a team that will never fall in battle."

"That sounds... tough." He was starting to realize just how big the burden of leadership was. How asking everything of three different people—all of which had their own lives, own thought and own ideals—seemed impossible.

He could do it. I knew he could. He did it with thousands of soldiers of in the future.

"You want a hint on how to make this seemingly impossible task possible?"

"Yes!" he screamed instantly. "Yes please! I need to know!"

"Heh, fine. You need to talk to them, laugh with them, struggle with them, love with them, lose with them, win with them, discover with them, feel with them, learn with them, forget with them, bleed with them... do good, do bad, do okay, do horrible, do amazing. DO EVERYTHING with them. Never let them go no matter what. Never let them slip away from your grasp, from your mind. You four are family now! Become their everything and allow them to become your everything. Together until the end... where that end may be doesn't matter, cause you'll face it together."

If he completely understood everything I just said, then my memories of my younger self was wrong. Not that he couldn't, but he shouldn't fully understand all the connotations of my words. That was something even a natural born leader wouldn't know—because it was lessons learned only by living, by _feeling_ , not by telling.

"There are so many lessons I can't teach you no matter how much I want to," I told him. "There are so many things I want to scream and beat into your brain so you won't make the same mistakes I did, but I can't. Some things you have to learn by yourself. You need to learn by yourself."

"Not by myself," he said quietly.

I looked at him questioningly.

"I'm not going to learn all those things by myself," he said, with confidence that surprised even me. "I'm going to learn it with my team—together. We'll learn all those lessons you can't teach not as Jaune or Pyrrha or Nora or Ren, but as JNPR!" He smiled at me, and I instantly thought of myself giving speeches to my men. "You said you'll always have my back, but don't worry. I already have three other people guarding me as well. Take it easy, old man, cause JNPR's not going to fail."

Old man? Now I could see why it pissed Qrow off so much. Those youngsters thinking they were all that...

"I don't doubt you one bit," I said, wondering about the last time I had a smile as genuine as the one I currently had. "This old man can rest his tired bones knowing kids like you are taking his place. Now scram, you got class tomorrow."

He gave me a mock salute and bolted out of my room, most likely he was going to be up all night thinking.

Good for him.

I collapsed onto my bed, my smile not fading.

JNPR was going to take the world by storm, weren't they?

I slept easy just thinking about it.

* * *

"What a time to be alive," I said, still feeling a buzz of happiness flow through me even though it was the next day.

"Why is that?" Winter asked from beside me as we walked the halls of Beacon.

I looked at her and smiled brightly. "There's so much going on! Look outside!" I exclaimed, looking out a window at the city of Vale below. "Thousands of people are down there, all of them, despite their problems, alive and bustling around. The city is alive, Winter! Think about it! It's Vale!"

Once upon a time this castle was in ruins and the city below was nothing more than smoking rubble. The city wasn't living—it was dead. How did I ever get used to seeing the corpse of society when it was so damn beautiful alive?

My enthusiasm was too much for Winter, is seems, as she had her own small smile. "It is quite the sight," she agreed. "You seem rather excited for some reason."

"Life Winter, it's life! I woke up, not an ache in my body! I exited my room to see hundreds of students roaming the halls! Life, Winter! Life! That's our future walking around! Where I'm from there was no future. The first thing Cinder destroyed was hope. I haven't felt hope in so long..."

She placed a hand on my shoulder. "You didn't have a chance back then, but don't worry. You're not alone."

"Oh! My sweetest prince! Thou melts thy heart!"

And like that her smile turned into a frown. "Don't even start," she warned. "I don't care how good your day started, I will ruin it!"

"Aye Winter! Thy is as cold as... Winter!" I chuckled as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "Now let's go get some pancakes!"

"What's with you and pancakes?" she asked as we walked.

I practically giggled thinking about Nora's wonderful rants about the wonders of pancakes. "Winter, have I never introduced you to the wonders of the pancake?"

"I've eaten them with you multiple times, but no, I have never felt any wonder from them."

I pulled her closer to me as I pointed down the hall. "We need too fix that! Don't worry, I have a twenty minute speech memorized about the joys of pancakes and why every restaurant, no matter what, must have all day pancakes!"

Nora had told me the speech so many times I could hear it when I closed my eyes.

"Please don't," she begged.

"Don't worry," I said, quieting down. "I'm done being theatrical. Now I'm just really hungry."

* * *

When we got into the cafeteria, Winter's big sister senses activated and her eyes instantly locked onto the back of her sister's head.

It was actually quite impressive how fast she could discern her sister in a crowd, though the white hair really did stand out. The more I thought about it the more her hair basically glowed.

I brought my finger to my lip, gesturing Winter to be quiet as we approached the table as quietly as we could. I brought my finger to my lips again as JNPR saw us, luckily they got the memo.

"Hi Blake!" I called as I poked her in the side of the head. She tensed up and elbowed me in the stomach, which hurt despite my Aura.

Yang, seemingly unfazed by the surprise, didn't even turn around and just started laughing at her partner. Ruby let out a startled yell and started choking on her cookie as she desperately tried to wash it down with milk.

Weiss simply tensed and whipped around, ready to give me a mouthful.

The words left her as she saw Winter.

"W-Winter!?" she let out in shock.

"Hello, Weiss," Winter said, looking as professional as ever.

"I-it's ah... it's wonderful to see you!" She composed herself. "Thank you for taking time out of schedule to come here to see me—us."

"It's nice to see you as well," Winter replied.

"Yes! So... what are you doing here?"

"Classified."

"Oh."

"Oh, come one Winter," I said, "give poor Weiss a break with all that classified garbage."

"Fine, I'm here because my partner is inept and has a penchant for breaking things. I was tasked to prevent his idiocy from damaging himself and more property."

I wilted. "I mean... she's not completely wrong."

"Makes a lot of sense!" Weiss agreed. "So how long are you staying?"

"Until the General sees fit."

"I see!"

"How have you been?" Winter asked as I sat down next to Blake, not paying much attention to Weiss' response.

"Hey there," I greeted as I glanced at her food. "Tuna sandwich in the morning?"

"It has all the necessary nutrients," she answered.

I nodded slowly. "Sure it does..."

"Are you being sarcastic?" She eyed me dangerously.

"Of course not!"

"Good." In true Blake fashion there was a silence that I could hear Winter interrogating Weiss about her well being in. "Things going alright?" Blake eventually asked.

"Actually, it really has. Thing have been looking up lately. Hopefully it's the same with you."

"Yeah," she answered, "Beacon's been... I never expected this a few months ago."

I chuckled. "So good, huh?"

"Yeah," she had her own small smile, "good."

"This school is pretty impressive. Have you been doing well in all your classes?"

"I have!" she answered quickly, looking proud. "I've never done... school before, but my grades are the best they can be! It isn't as tough as I expected."

"You're just really smart."

"Maybe."

"Definitely."

My nose twitched as did Blake's.

"That smell..." she started.

I grinned. "Booze."

"Heya!" Qrow said from a few feet away, hobbling towards us. "I spy with my little eyes... a lot of munchkins, two cute munchkins and... two Ice Queens? I must be drunker then I thought if I'm seeing double."

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby called as the drunk walked over. He picked her up, sat down in her spot, and placed her down on his lap. "Hi!" she called cutely.

"Hey kids." He ruffled Ruby's hair and punched Yang in the arm before giving me a nod. "Winter, too dignified to sit, it seems."

"To drunk to stay standing, it seems," she shot back.

He laughed heartily. "You know me too well."

"No, I could just smell you."

"She's right," I chimed.

Qrow ignored the both of us and started to eat Ruby's cookies.

"Hey those are mine!"

"Are your name on them?"

"No..."

"Free game them!"

"He's right!" Yang teased.

Qrow took Yang's orange juice and downed it.

"Hey! That's mine! That's really gross too!"

"So is booze, yet I drink it like water."

I started laughing. I loved that guy.

"Hey Qrow."

He looked at me.

"What?"

"Did you kn-"

I vanished in flash of red.

* * *

"Alright... that was rude," Qrow said as he ate another cookie.

"What happened?" Winter yelled.

Qrow looked around, the entire cafeteria was on edge.

"Eh, you know."

"No, I don't know."

"You should know."

"That doesn't help!"

"So does booze, yet I drink it like water."

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby whispered loudly, "you already said that."

"So does booze, yet I drink it like water."

Weiss shook her head. "Ruby, he probably doesn't even know who he is he's so drunk."

"So does booze, yet I..."

* * *

"Raven... why?" I complained the second I came out of her portal. "I was just about to eat! The pancakes!"

"Don't be annoying, please."

"Fine," I relented with a heavy breath. "So, dove, what do you want?"

She stared at me blankly at the nickname, looking a couple seconds away from just stabbing me. It was Tai's nickname for her when they had that... that thing together.

Well that thing was called Yang, but I digress.

"Don't be like that, either."

"Like what?"

"Like Qrow."

"Alright, I admit that was a pretty Qrow thing to do. I was just talking to him, actually. You cut me off from a nice conversation that was going to embarrass your daughter greatly."

"I don't care."

"You should, you would think it's really cute. Cause, you know, she's your daughter. You kinda squeezed her out of your-"

"Too much Qrow," she warned.

I stayed quiet and looked around. We were in a older pub, by the looks of it. I stood up and glanced out the balcony we were on, out the window it was wet and dingy. Mistral, by the looks of it. Glancing at the patrons of the bar confirmed it.

Backwater Mistral—my favorite.

"We're in a bar," I noted, "that's the Qrow-est thing I've seen today, and I was just talking to him."

Her silence was enough of a reply to me and I sat down across from her. I eyed her, slowly regaining my sense of equilibrium after the random change in scenery.

It was, despite all my common senses screaming me that she was dangerous, a pretty comfortable silence.

"Alright," she said after a few minutes, "are you ready?"

"Depends why you randomly invited me here." Invited was a loose term. "It was a pretty good day up until now, I even have a date at nine."

She hummed in response.

"Sure. I'm ready for whatever you got cooked up. I'll even sign a waiver, just forgot my pen at home. Knowing you I need to sign in blood anyways."

"It's a D-type Grimm," she said suddenly, catching me off guard. "A stupid independent Dust Company drilled too close to the Burning Fields and made a path for it to climb straight out."

"But after killing everyone it decided to not go back into hiding," I filled in for her. "That means it's one of the angry ones, and since it's from the burning fields I assume it's a..."

"Hannibal," she finished softly.

"I see," I said, unable to muster anymore words.

We sat in more silence, taking the situation in.

D-type was short for Dust type. They were Grimm that managed, like humans, to harness the power of Dust. They didn't go around with Dust technology and Bullheads, instead they were infused with Dust. Only Grimm living in the most extreme environments could achieve such evolution, and even then the chances were slim.

"The Burning Fields... what idiots. Did they... awaken that one?"

"The Myth? No."

I sighed in relief. "It's a shitty situation, but as long as that thing is still asleep we have a chance. I've taken a few Hannibals down in my day. It's not easy, but it's doable."

"I've only heard of them," she admitted. "I figured you, given your background, would know."

"You know, Raven, as much as I want to be angry at you for dragging me from a nice day into this, I'm not. I'm probably the only one in the world whose killed more than a single Hannibal. I'm glad you didn't run in alone, that would've been worse."

"How did you take them down?"

"Well, I've killed four Hannibals, and two of those time I was with Yang and she was crucial. You know her Semblance, right?"

"Of course I do," she seemed offended that I thought she didn't.

"Just making sure. Anyways, she could take the heat and her rage mode is much worse than a Hannibals." I chuckled at the thought. "But there's no way in hell I'm taking seventeen year old Yang against this kind of monster."

She nodded in agreement, her fist tightening. Must be the maternal instincts and such.

"Alright, they're like dragons. They're infused with a core of Red Dust, so they can breath and summon fire at will. Their speed is crazy, and so is their their temper—it only gets worse when they're real hurt. They got like... like a rage mode. It's... it's something that once you see it, you'll never forget. The fire becomes unbearable, and it will never stop fighting until it dies, or the person who damaged it dies. Even if you run it will follow you to the ends of the earth—it can smell you miles away."

"So when the fight starts, it has to end."

"Yeah, the weakest point is its head, and it's possible to cut its hands off. Its Dust core is in its back."

"Will it explode if attacked?"

"It'll burst," I warned. "It always does, but it... it," I struggled for the right words, "it will, and when it does that means it's angry. I don't even think Salem expected those things to happen, as she can't create them at will. These things are just humanity getting unlucky."

"Then killing it will weaken her."

"Yeah," I said with a grin and a nod. "She can't create D-types, she's just puts the in the environment and hopes it happens. Most of the time it doesn't, so her numbers of them are limited."

"I want to help," Raven said. "I've been convinced. This problem... Cinder, Salem and the Maidens, it needs to stop. I can't duck out of this because the time is now and I can't run away from the world. You're from the future... this is a chance. I can't know about this and stand still."

My Semblance charged, the power from Raven alone exponential.

Fun fact, the stronger the person who believed me the more power I drew from them. As well the stronger the bond the more power I got.

Of the Semblance tiers, mine was near the top. Semblances had tiers, and each tiers had classifications. For example, Blake's was a minor reality Semblance because she could create reality—create matter—but not in a significant amount. Ruby, Yang and Nora's were considered individual, because it only affected themselves. Neo and Emerald had Illusionary, for obvious reasons. Raven had an extreme reality Semblance, as she could bend reality to teleport places.

While there were other classes and a lot of sub-classes, only individual and reality mattered, for I had a case even rarer than a dual Semblance. I had a Combination Semblance, a Semblance that a mix of two types—in my case I had a Individual Reality Semblance so strong it was still considered 'unknown' by many scientists in my time.

Apparently it broke not just science, but _sense—_ the laws so many people came together to create were null. My Semblance alone broke all the rules people states as fact, it changed the definition of Aura. Aura was the manifestation of the soul, and a Semblance was considered an outer projection of Aura. Somehow my Semblance was powered by other people's soul, their Aura, not my own.

My Semblance took everyone who was connected to me, and basically used their soul to create Aura. Fuck science.

Raven took a sip of her drink, confusing me.

"I thought you didn't drink."

She rose an eyebrow. "Why is that?" she asked.

"Qrow, in the future, mentioned that you didn't drink because he liked it so much."

She actually laughed, surprising me.

"Despite what Qrow says, I don't hate things he likes, he likes my daughter and niece, I just hate him. Actually, I can honestly say the only thing I really hate is Grimm and my brother... my brother more than Grimm."

"You love him too."

"I just hate him more."

I rolled my eyes.

Twins.

* * *

I could smell the smoke the second we stepped out of the portal. Glancing at the sky, it was tough not to notice the giant plumes of smoke reaching up and blocking the setting sun.

Raven was smart, and transported us onto a cliff a mile away from the site. The Burning Fields were deep underground, the only known entrance the giant crevice cutting through the forest next to the site. The mining site was actually quite large—the Burning Fields were the home of some of the most potent Red Dust crystals, but nobody dared mining there to due the dangerous Grimm and the myth of a world destroyer sleeping in the Fields.

Those idiots thought they could play with fire, and got incinerated as a result.

There was a fierce roar and massive fiery explosion from the site—no doubt the monster erupted a large stock of Red Dust.

"Damn," I commented as the shock wave blew my hair back. "If only we had some silver eyes to help."

"I miss Summer all the time, but even more right now."

"Silver eyed warriors are the ultimate bane of Grimm, and Summer was one of the best of them. We need to be careful, because deep in that quarry, in the Burning Fields, is a type of Grimm that even Summer couldn't defeat."

"The myth? Was it the one to kill her?"

I shook my head. "No, but it's the same type. A H-type Grimm."

"H-type?"

Oh yeah, it'll take a few years until the first H-type revealed itself.

"Human type Grimm... Grimm that were once Human, and are capable of using Aura."

Through her mask, I could see her eyes widen in shock.

"H-human?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Silver eyes do nothing against them since they have souls. Fighting them is nothing but luck."

"Let's... not awaken that."

"Yes, I agree. I very much agree."

"Well, let's go to work," Raven said as she dove off the cliff.

I really hope there was a portal at the bottom, I thought, as I jumped.

* * *

We came flying out of the portal. I had Atra Mors drawn and ready as we appeared in the middle of the burning complex. The entire place was ablaze, the result of metric tons of the purest red Dust being ignited.

"No visuals!" Raven yelled, in Huntress mode.

"It can smell us!" I yelled. "It can always smell us!"

My senses flared and we dove into a portal to avoid being crushed. Reappearing on a catwalk far away from our previous position, we looked down at the courtyard—there it was.

It was massive, it's length easily forty feet long due to its tail and height probably fifty. It was almost human like, with its two arms and legs, however it was hunched over, walking on all four despite its opposable thumbs. The color was black, but it was covered in white armor in more spots than it wasn't. The tips of its spear like fingers and toes were glowing orange—super heated—and its left arm was covered in a bone gauntlet that was orange due to the pure red Dust crystals growing out of it. Out of its back was a crystal bigger than a car. It had a long neck with Dust crystals growing out of it that reached into a shark like head with two horns like a goat—except the tips were Dust crystals as well. It's teeth were razor sharp, capable of easily tearing through steel.

Pure fire could be seen sitting inside of it through a hole in the middle of its chest—one of the few points without armor.

"That's..."

"Terrifying?" I finished for her.

She nodded mutely.

Its head snapped in our direction and it roared as its beady red eyes latched onto us.

Raven took a step backwards into a portal and White Aura erupted all around me as I leapt off the catwalk.

I hit the ground and rolled, pushing off the floor and jumping over a sweep of its massive arm. I landed beneath it and erupted with even more Aura as I launched myself into its stomach.

It flew into the air on landed on its back.

Raven appeared above it, falling and spinning as she approached its head.

The Hannibal smelled her and fired a stream of fire at her. She vanished into a portal and I slammed my Aura infused foot into the side of its head.

Raven appeared on its forehead. Stabbing it with her sword as many times as she could before she jumped back into another portal.

Fire erupted from all around the Hannibal. I rose my shield and covered myself as much as I could before a portal appeared in front of me, taking the fire elsewhere.

The Hannibal got up and stood on two legs, raising its left arm. The crystals around its gauntlet glowed as it looked at me, driving its fist towards me.

Raven grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me into a portal. We vanished.

We appeared a mile away, back on the cliff, just in time to see the entire complex explode. It was a massive red explosion that just kept glowing. The fire was coming closer and closer every second—incinerating everything in its path.

"This isn't far enough," I breathed out. There was too much dust that was ignited. "Everything within five miles is gone."

We jumped back off the cliff and into a portal.

We appeared even farther away, just far enough to see the full scope of the explosion. Everything in a five mile radius was engulfed by fire, and it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

Out of the fire the Hannibal jumped out, leaping towards up at incredible speeds.

I stabbed my sword into the ground and grabbed Stormflower, spinning it and extending the blade. I slashed, channeling as much Aura as the weapon could take. The crescent blade of energy cut through trees as it sped towards the Grimm.

It swiped its tail to block, but the appendage was cut clean off.

It landed and roared, fire emitting from every orifice.

We just pissed it off more.

I dropped my shield and cracked my fists. Time to go Yang on this motherfucker.

I met its fist with my own, my Aura colliding and fighting with its fire. It was a standoff. My Aura against its fire.

Raven appeared above it and slashed through its face.

It roared and lost its concentration. My aura overcame it and launched it through multiple trees and into the forest.

I fell onto my knee.

Raven appeared next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, helping me get up. We were both breathing heavily—there was just so much fire and so little oxygen.

"It doesn't have a brain," I warned, panting. "You're attack won't kill it."

As if on cue, the Hannibal was charging towards us. Half of its face was cut off due to Raven's attack, including its eye, but out of the wound fire streamed out.

I picked up both parts of Atra Mors and charged towards it, raising my shield as I did.

We met head on.—his head against my shield. I could see my shield crack as we collided, and our combined forces evened out into a standstill.

Raven appeared by its foot, slicing into its ankle and causing it to stumble.

I jumped up and launched myself off its head. Raven appeared by its other ankle and sliced that as well, making it fall onto its chest.

In the air Raven's portal appeared below me, I fell into it and appeared even higher above the Hannibal.

Flipping to build momentum I fell towards into it and drove my sword into its core—the crystal in its back.

Everything exploded and everything went black.

Not for long, however, as I quickly regained my bearing and found myself in a pub in Mistral. My shield was falling apart in my grasp and my sword was glowing orange it was so hot.

"We need to go back," I called as I panted heavily.

"Is... is it dead?" she asked, winded as well.

"Maybe. Hopefully. The hole... to the... Burning Plains. It's still there. It needs to be closed or else more will come."

She nodded and grabbed me.

We reappeared where the mining complex should have been, except it was nothing more than a bowl of melting metal.

"You think the metal will cool and seal the hole?" I asked.

"I'm not a scientist."

"Same."

Raven stepped through a portal and reappeared a few seconds later.

"There's nothing but fire," she said, "but I don't see the Hannibal. It must be in pieces."

"Take me to the crevice."

She did.

I stared down the massive crack in the earth. It was extremely deep, so deep I couldn't see the bottom. All the at the depths, however, was a giant underground cavern or eternal fire and the purest red Dust in the world.

Also the H-type Grimm. The Grimm that could wipe out the entire city of Vale in an instant. The Grimm that awoken and destroyed all of Menagerie in a sea of fire—that turned Mistral to ashes.

"Her name is Amaterasu."

"Excuse me?"

"The H-type Grimm. Her name is Amaterasu. It used to be different, but now she goes by Amaterasu."

"Her," Raven noted.

"Yes, her. She was once a human. She once had dreams, goals, aspirations... and she still does, it's just she's a Grimm now. There's still a human in there—a fully thinking, functional human mind—it's just tainted by Salem."

"Did you know her?"

"Not before she became it, but afterwards, yes, I spoke to her."

"What did she say."

"She said she was sorry."

* * *

We sat in a pub in Mistral.

"I see where Yang gets it from," I noted as Raven downed her drink.

We were smelly and scorched—our clothing covered in burns and out hairs singed. Everyone gave us a wide berth and the bartender spoke the bare minimum with us... smart.

"It runs in the family."

"Lucky, I had to work to my tolerance."

"More tolerance means your breath stinks more."

"And the more your breath stinks the less friends you'll make."

She smirked.

"Exactly."

I waved at the bartender and looked at the television the pub had. Cyril Ian was already in Mistral reporting on the massive Dust explosion. The forest fire was still raging, and Bullheads were being flown above to drop water on the site, to little avail.

 _"The Schnee Dust Company has confirmed that they will ship the Mistral forces a large amount of Water and Ice Dust crystals to help fight the blaze, which is the biggest forest fire in Remnant History."_

"Biggest in Remnant history," I muttered. "They should've seen Prometheus in action."

"Who is that?"

"Prometheus is a H-type Grimm—one of the two fire ones and Amaterasu's male counterpart. Imagine a Hannibal except much bigger, smarter and can fly."

"It can fly."

"He," I corrected. "He can control his fire with his Aura to make wings. That bastard is actually a really nice guy... except he's a Grimm and turned a large section of Vacuo into glass."

"You stopped him, right?"

"Yeah, actually you helped."

She looked at me, a silent gesture to continue.

"Yang begged you to help and you sure as hell did. You created a massive portal and threw his ass into the ocean. He was so hot he kept evaporating all the water around him, but every time he did more would gush in and he would sink deeper and deeper. The pressure in the ocean became too much and crushed him. That was one of the most stressful twenty minutes of my life."

"Just thinking about creating a portal that big pains me... never mind it's just I'm still aching from the fight."

I laughed and took a sip of my drink, sighing in contentment at how refreshing it was.

"You have a date," Raven said.

I glanced at the television, it was ten before nine. After the battle we crashed and both fell asleep for hours, only waking up at half past eight.

"Shit, I do." I downed my drink. "Can I please have a ride?"

"Fine, but that's your favor for helping me with the Hannibal."

"Actually, I'll keep that favor and walk instead." Mistral and Vale weren't _that_ far apart.

"No no," she laughed slightly, "I'm kidding, I'll take you back and owe you a favor."

* * *

I knocked on her door at nine exactly.

She opened it.

"Hey Winter," I greeted with the biggest smile I could muster, which, with how low my energy levels were, was pretty weak. "You look absolutely stunning—like beyond stunning. Wow. Stunning."

It was actually the first time I'd seen her without some sort of Atlas military garb on. She was wearing a dark blue dress that looked absolutely amazing on her—it honestly took what little breath I had away.

"Joan, you're hurt," was the first thing she said.

"Yeah... just a little." I swayed and had to place a hand on her door frame to steady myself.

It wasn't tough to notice that I had gotten into a fight. My Atlesian military armor was damaged all over. Half of my breast plate was gone, and a lot of the padding covering my body was noticeable burned and scorched. My hair was singed at the tips, somehow not completely burned off. While I wasn't bleeding externally, my arms were an ugly shade of purple.

She placed her hand, covered in a white evening glove, onto my cheek and pulled me towards her slightly. Even the small amount of force she used was enough to make me lose my balance and fall forwards into her grasp.

She led me over to her couch and sat me down. I leaned heavily against her even though I really didn't want to.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?"

"For getting your dress dirty."

She glanced down and noticed that, indeed, my grime had gotten onto her.

"It doesn't matter," she said, "I can buy a hundred of these."

"But you look so beautiful and I'm ruining everything."

"I expect nothing less than you," she said gently, unbuckling my breastplate. "It's part of your charm, it seems."

She got my armor off and led me to her shower.

"You smell."

"I got into a fight with a Hannibal... it was hot." I got really sweaty fighting that thing.

"Of course you did," she shook her head as she threw me into her bathroom, "only you can do that and still try to show up for a date."

* * *

When I got out of the shower there was clothing waiting for me.

"How did you get these?" I asked as I walked into her common room (Beacon gave her basically an apartment), wearing my rabbit pj's.

"I couldn't find your Scroll to get in, but it wasn't that difficult," she explained, but didn't answer my question.

"My Scroll melted..."

"As did your blade." I glanced at her coffee table, which had all my weapons laid out on it. My guns were fine—the quality of them clearly very high—but Atra Mors was in shambles. The shield was cracked and dented while the blade had been heated so much that when it finally cooled it was crooked.

I collapsed onto the couch next to her.

"You know a lot of that is fake," I said, referring to the news she was watching.

"Taiyang is still working on it," she replied. "Though I doubt they're faking an entire forest fire—it's a rather peculiar thing to stage."

"It's still going on? Damn."

"Is that your fault?"

"Maybe." I yawned deeply and slumped against her.

"You're an idiot."

"I know."

"An absolute dunce."

"I know."

"You could have easily died."

"I know."

"You just left."

"I know."

"You're not doing something like this again."

"I know."

"If you do... at least take me."

"Of course."

We sat in a comfortable silence.

"I never got that suit," I noted, slightly disappointed.

"You're fault."

"Yeah... I know."

"I called the restaurant while you were in the shower. They're disappointed that we couldn't dine with them tonight, and insists that they'll give us a complimentary bottle of wine next time we come."

"How did you embezzle that out of them?"

"It's a talent."

"Must be."

I yawned again.

"Gnight..."

* * *

 **A** **uthors note: merry christmas.**

 **Many thanks to my friend who will never read this, as he showed me the game that I got the Hannibal from. It's from god eater.**

* * *

 _Omake_

"So, Winter..."

"Yes? Yang, was it?"

"Yup. Anyways, Winter... I heard from an anonymous source you got quite the adorable photo album of Weiss on your Scroll."

Winter actually brightened. "I do! Do you wish to see it? It's a tradition that I dress her up every holidays for a little photo shoot. Last year she went as a polar bear!"

"A polar bear?" Yang cackled madly. "Yes... yes that sounds amazing." Ruby was vigorously nodding in agreement, and even Blake put her book down to see the goods.

Said girl buried her head in her hands.

"She dressed up as a penguin two years ago!"

"Kill me," Weiss whispered to no one in particular.

"Wait! I must start with the Santa Claus Weiss photos!"

"Please," Weiss pleaded to the sky, "please smite me or something. Just take me away!"


	9. Joan the Obscure

"So uh... you doing anything tonight?" Taiyang asked, trying his hardest not to be awkward.

"Yes," Raven answered instantly, not even making eye contact with him. "I have more missions to do."

Lisa, who was in the back of the car they were transporting her in, simply shook her head as she watched the train wreck in front of her (and there were no railways in sight).

"Alright, that's cool." Tai nodded his head slowly as he continued to drive. "You know I'm making enchiladas."

"I don't care."

"Well how bout a drink after the mission?"

"No."

"After we get everything with Lisa dealt with?"

"No."

"Even after we defeat the scourge that is news?"

"Yes, even after that."

"Alright," Tai said again as he focused his eyes back on the road. After a few moments of silence he looked at Raven. "You know... you still look like you did our senior year..."

Raven glanced out the window, judging how fast the car was moving and how much it would hurt to jump out.

"A lot like Yang actually... hey you know we should have a family dinner someti—"

Raven turned the radio all the way up.

The song was absolutely atrocious and it made her ears hurt, but it was better than Tai's flirting any day.

Lisa looked at the two of them, before sighing.

"To think the two of them had sex together," she muttered, but it went unnoticed under the music.

* * *

 **Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"It's stupid!" she complained. "It's like she had cheat codes!"_

 _"Life's not that kind of game."_

 _"Are you sure?" she asked. "It's like she's some video game character that's way too overpowered and doesn't have to go to the bathroom!"_

 _"But she does. The not-so-great Cinder Fall still has to sit down and relieve herself."_

 _That made her laugh a little. "That's kinda funny. Take that Cinder... you and your stupid beauty."_

 _"Eh... she's attractive but not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."_

 _"Really?" She looked at him with her big silver eyes._

 _"Yeah, the most beautiful things in world cannot be seen or touched but rather felt by the heart. You're a million times more beautiful than she'll ever be—I can feel it."_

 _She blushed and gave a dopey laugh._

* * *

 **Joan the Obscure**

* * *

"I'm bored," I said as I peaked my head over Winter's shoulder, staring at whatever work she was doing on her Scroll, "do something with me, please."

She died in the game she was playing (after getting a score ten times higher than my own) and put her Scroll away, looking at me blandly. "And you assume I have some adventure to go on?"

"No, but you probably have Winter things to do."

"Like?"

"Like Winter things." I could tell that she wanted more clarification by the look she was giving me. "I don't know! You're always super busy so that must mean you have responsibilities or something."

"If I had such responsibilities right now I would be doing them."

Great. So she had nothing to do either.

"Wonderful. Is there anything we can do? Can you teach me to play the piano or something?"

"Do you want to learn?"

"I know a little bit, but the more I think about it no," I answered honestly. Weiss actually taught me to play the piano a few years into the future. It was when we really broke the ice and became friends.

The last thing I wanted was to get all emotional.

"Well I did promise my sister I would help with her Semblance after her classes. I believe the rest of her team may come as well."

"That's something to do!" I agreed, already liking the prospect. "So we need to kill time for two more hours... I have a GameSphere."

"No."

"Did Whitley traumatize you? Trust me I'm not as good as he is."

"Doesn't matter. I refuse to touch that infernal contraption ever again!" Her hands were shaking as she clenched them.

Wow. Whitley really did scar her.

"I thought all Schnee's love their video games," I said. Papa Schnee kept them inside for copious amounts of time—what did they have to do except play games?

I didn't want to bring up anymore bad memories (I understood because both Whitley and Weiss digitally kicked my ass too many times to count), so I span on my heels dramatically and pointed down the hallway we were in.

"Then we shall make some adventure! On wards Winter, for we will take to the streets of Vale!"

"And do what?"

"They have an arcade?"

The Schnee blood in her must have finally reacted at the prospect, because she nodded vigorously.

* * *

"Boop."

Blake let out a breath that didn't sound particularly pleasant.

"Boop."

Blake's left eye twitched.

"Boop?" Nora echoed, watching curiously.

"Yes Nora, Boop." I smiled at her miscellaneously as I booped Blake on the head yet again. The big inflatable hammer I had bounced off her head delightfully, making me giggle and repeat myself. I threw a piece of plastic at Nora, an uninflated hammer, but it flopped to the ground a few feet in front of me.

"Nice throw," Blake commented.

I booped her again. "It's the wind," I explained, though I quickly looked around and realized there was no wind. The training pavilion we were in, while connected to Emerald forest, was pretty secluded. It wasn't connected to the main school, but there were walls and a impressive amount of barren buildings to simulate urban combat, and it did have docking stations for lockers to land in (though they never landed on target).

Blake had enough and lunged at my hammer.

"Blake no!" I screamed as I stood up and held my hammer as high in the air as I could. "Down kitty! This was eight hundred tickets! Do you understand the struggle to get that many tickets!"

"I don't care!" she screamed back as she clawed at my arms.

She was getting freakishly close despite the eight inch height difference between the two of us.

"Nora help!" I called, but she was too busy blowing up her own hammer to listen. I didn't even attempt to bother Ren, because I knew he wasn't even going to consider helping.

"Look, a fish!" I said and pointed.

When Blake's head snapped towards where I pointed I booped her again.

"Hehe... boop."

She had enough and drew Gambol Shroud.

"Blake!" Yang called as she, the rest of team RWBY, Winter, Jaune and Pyrrha approached from Beacon. "Don't start the fun just yet! Wait for us!"

"Winter!" I yelled as I ran behind my partner. "Save me! She's trying to destroy all our hard work!"

"Our?" Winter questioned, and even though I couldn't see her face I knew her eyebrow had risen. "From what I remember I did most of the work while you kept losing in every game you tried."

"I got Qrow's luck," I explained, "and don't forget the dance machine. I killed it."

"You broke it."

"That fits the definition of kill."

She didn't respond, rolling her eyes instead. Winter walked to the middle of the training field and turned around, facing the students with a professional look on her face. I followed and stood next to her, eyeing the students with a bored expression rather than Winter's scary one.

They all looked pumped up and ready. Even Jaune, who looked a tad nervous, still had energy brimming from him.

"So," I started.

"You wanted to face real Huntsman to test your skills," Winter continued, "and here we are."

"Do you have second thoughts now that we're in front of you?" I asked.

Yang cracked her knuckles. "Thoughts of how we're gonna pummel you," she said.

They all seemed to agree with her, which was good since they needed everything they had.

"Well," I patted Winter on the shoulder, "looks like we need to teach them some lessons."

Winter drew her blade, before glancing at me and frowning.

Atra Mors was done—totaled by the Hannibal. Winter clicked a mechanism on her sword and a smaller blade, almost dagger like but with greater length, shot out. She handed it to me.

"Much appreciated," I said as I span the blade around, getting a feel for it.

"What are you waiting for?" Winter demanded to the students.

"What lesson will be first?" I wondered out loud.

"Separate them!" Jaune yelled as RWBY and JNPR rushed towards us. "Divide and conquer!"

Winter wasn't waiting and dashed towards team RWBY with incredible speeds, catching them off guard.

Divide and conquer was a decent strategy at face value. But they failed in realizing that they needed every body they had in order to even scratch an Atlesian Specialist—let alone two.

I swiped Winter's dagger upwards and destroyed Pyrrha's bullet before it could hit me.

JNPR wanted some action.

I grinned.

Ducking underneath Nora's hammer I grabbed her by the stomach and flipped her over my shoulder and onto the ground. From the ground she tried to sweep my legs out from underneath right as Pyrrha tried to stab me. I jumped in the air, landing on Pyrrha's sphere and pushing off it into the air.

My Aura flared around me as Ren unloaded StormFlower into the air. I swiped as many bullets out of the air as I could, landing and rolling.

Jaune slashed downwards at me, I parried and span around him. I slammed my foot into his hip which sent him flying into Ren and sent Crocea Mors into the air.

Right as I was about to grab it the blade stopped mid air and swung towards me without any help.

Stupid polarity.

I dodged it and threw my dagger at Pyrrha, who rose her shield to block. Crocea Mors flew back into Jaune's hand.

My instincts reacted and I caught Nora's grenade in my hand.

It exploded.

Out of the smoke I ran out. Running in front of Ren and Jaune I grabbed Ren's arm as he was firing Stormflower, he kept firing through instinct and I pointed his arm towards Jaune.

Jaune yelped and rose his shield to stop the barrage. Ren stopped firing and tore his arm away

Pyrrha practically flew above me and slashed.

I dodged her slash and all of JNPR came at me from all sides.

They were slower than I remembered—or maybe it was just me. Despite being surrounded I weaved through all of their attacks. They had energy, however, and kept going at me with more vigor every second.

In a small opening I drew my revolver, span it around my finger and placed it again Pyrrha's shield. The sheer force of the shot sent her tumbling back.

I batted Crocea Mors away by the blade and elbowed Ren in the ribs. Nora, who was behind me, was caught off guard as I drove my foot back into her ankle. When she fell towards me I reached back, grabbed her hammer, and flung her into the distance, sending her to the Emerald Forest.

With only Ren and Jaune left, I leaned my body and dodged Jaune's stab. I took him by the wrist I threw him into Ren.

Pyrrha whipped her shield at me. I span around and kicked the shield before it could hit me.

It flew away and slammed into Yang from behind.

Pyrrha took a second to yell sorry, which I took to run and grab Winter's dagger. I saw Winter flipping in the air and threw it towards her.

She grabbed it midair and landed, using one blade to block Blake and another the block Weiss.

Ruby used her Semblance and appeared behind Winter, but the specialist erupted in a Dust explosion. RWBY were sent flying away. I grabbed Yang as she flew and slammed her into the ground.

Taking a second to wind up, I ran up to the downed Jaune and slammed my foot into his armored chest. Blake gave a startled yell as Jaune flew into her.

From the ground Ren rose both of his guns and started firing.

I quickly backed away and caught Yang's fist.

She smirked and fired Ember Cecilia.

Smoke erupted from around us.

Winter slashed through Ruby's shot and span into an elegant kick, flipping over and hitting the charging Blake in the back and making her crash into Weiss. Nora finally managed to make her way back, missing Winter by an inch and hitting the ground.

But that didn't matter to Nora, Magnhild exploded.

Twenty meters away, Winter's time dilation gylph expired and she put the single misplaced strand of hair back into place.

She watched as Pyrrha was thrown a few feet in front off her. The champion rolled and struggled to get up, her limbs shaking a she did.

I slammed my fist into Yang's midsection, as she stumbled back I brought my foot up and kicked Ruby before she could assist. I batted Yang's punch away and chopped at her shoulder.

She took the hit and headbutted me right in the nose.

I took a step back and she drove both of her fists into my chest, firing Ember Cecilia and sending me flying towards my partner.

I recovered in the air and grabbed Ruby by the hood as I flew past.

Landing on my feet and using Ruby as a club I knocked Weiss away before she could use Dust on her sister. Letting go of the munchkin, I caught Pyrrha by surprise and rammed her in the back as she was fighting Winter.

The poor girl was launched forwards and Winter hit her in the face with a brutal backhand.

She was out before she hit the ground.

I looked from Pyrrha and saw Winter right in front of my kneeling form. Like a true gentleman she regally offered me a hand. I took it and got up, surveying the remaining students in front of us—they were regrouping.

Jaune roared and charged towards us, trying to aid his partner.

I liked that game.

I charged as well, Winter right behind me.

Jaune's shield did little to deter me and I ran straight through him, revealing Blake behind him. Blake's eyes widened and she created a solid stone clone using Dust.

I ran through it as well, but Blake smirked and vanished, revealing Weiss conjuring massive icicles.

Winter jumped over me, using my shoulder as a platform and launching herself towards her sister. Weiss fired the icicles, but Winter gracefully jumped from icicle to icicle and quickly closed the distance.

But instead of attacking Weiss, Winter jumped over her sister and axe kicked Yang. Weiss looked back at her sister, surprised, before remembering and snapping her head back towards me.

I didn't run into her like Jaune, instead I ripped Myrtenaster out of her hands and poked the top of her head with a finger.

"Stay focused," I chimed and ran past her.

Raising Myrtenaster I slashed at the ground and covered it with ice.

Ruby slid past me, unable to control herself.

As I was laughing Blake's weapon wrapped around my waist and dragged me towards her.

I didn't want to break her weapon, so instead of exploding with Aura I dialed Myrtenaster to red Dust and slashed at her. Fire erupted from the blade towards the Faunus, who jumped away and retracted her weapon.

Turning Gambol Shroud into gun form Blake shot at me. I created a wall of ice to protect myself, using all of Weiss' ice Dust.

Ruby appeared in front of me and I ducked. The wall of ice was cut completely in half by Crescent Rose. I dodged a few slashes and tried to get away.

Fighting a scythe like hers was practically impossible for me. It was too long and too fast to fight against. Ruby wasn't as good as her future self or Qrow, but it was still a tad too much for me. I didn't know how to fight scythe users—all the good ones were on my side.

Winter left Yang alone and the brawler, luckily for me, decided to help her sister.

Ruby and Yang had good chemistry together, but they couldn't use their weapons to their full potential with an ally. I could dodge or block Ruby's attacks since she wasn't using longer slashes and risking her sister.

I looked away and saw that Winter was done playing games... if Nora being frozen to the ground and Ren most likely being concussed meant anything.

It was time for me to close up shop as well.

I let Yang slug me in the face—my Aura protecting me as I grabbed her wrist. Yang's eyes widened as I pulled her towards me and hugged her tightly, falling back and performing a suplex.

I got up and lightly poked her with Myrtenaster, unleashed lighting Dust onto her. She convulsed a little, but it was a relatively painless knockout.

Someone slammed me into the ground.

I laid there, staring in awe, as Weiss stood back up and grabbed her weapon.

She tackled like a rugby player!

She growled and leveled her newly recovered weapon at me, dialing through the Dust settings.

Before she could decide on the best way to maim me I hooked my foot on her ankle and took her feet out.

I was a gentleman, to Weiss especially, and grabbed her before she hit the ground.

"Concede?" I asked as I cradled her, raising my Aura infused fist.

She nodded slowly and I dropped her.

"Go sit down," I advised.

Winter was being tripled team by the remaining students.

Well... double teamed by Ruby and Blake while Jaune did whatever he did.

I got closer and waited. When Ruby go close enough I grabbed her by the hood.

"Not again!" she cried as I threw her away. She hit Weiss, who was just trying to walk away, again.

I tapped Jaune on the shoulder.

"Wha—" I slugged him in the face, sending him into dreamland.

Blake, so caught up in fighting Winter, didn't notice anything as she landed by me and started shooting at the older Schnee.

I got close and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"Heya!" she freaked out and tried to escape, to little success. "You're stuck! Blake what's wrong? Why are you writhing so much?"

She looked at me for a second then saw Winter approaching.

She sighed. "I give."

I laughed and let go.

"Smart."

Ruby recovered and ran back towards us.

"You're outnumbered," Winter said simply.

"How the tides have turned," I commented.

She laughed nervously as we approached.

* * *

They weren't in the best condition. It wasn't anything life threatening or shock inducing, just a Deathstalker sting to the pride. They were taking it the way I remembered us taking it, by being little drama queens and moping.

The teenage mindset was truly a wonderful one.

Nobody had any significant injuries. Both Pyrrha and Jaune sported matching bruises on their cheeks, courtesy of my partner and I. Ren seemed fine with his head injury, he was currently sleeping it off... which, in hindsight, was the complete wrong thing to do.

"Nora," I said to the girl who was currently still shivering, "can you wake Ren up?"

"Alright!" she chirped, despite her clattering teeth. She placed a finger on Ren's nose and got suspiciously close to his face, but before she could scream her wild imaginations to him his pink eyes snapped open.

"I'm awake," he said quickly. "There is no need to yell."

Luckily he didn't seem concussed, so the injuries to them were mostly just pride.

"We booked this training area for two hours," I told the students. "It's been twenty minutes and you guys are already done—only ten of which was the fight. You know, that seems like something you should be bummed about."

"I'll show you bummed out," Yang muttered. Her hair and Mytrenaster didn't go well together, and her long blonde locks were all frizzy and wild, something she really didn't appreciate.

"Don't worry Yang, you're in shock... it'll wear off soon." I held back the snicker as I said it.

Yang used that joke on Nora all the time in the future.

"It does bum me out," Ruby agreed, "but we did okay! And okay against two of the best is pretty good to me!"

Her words returned some confidence to the group, beginners lasting a few minutes against top Atlesian agents was pretty good indeed. That was Ruby's special way of inspiring confidence in people—she did it naturally.

"You guys are a pretty interesting group," I noted, looking at all of them. "All the same age and all extremely gifted. Makes me wonder what was in the water seventeen years ago..." I trailed off, lost in my own thoughts.

"Is your nose still sore?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"No," I lied, even though the pain was really bothering me. "Not at all. How does the dirt taste after you got wrecked by flying shield?"

"Sorry!" Pyrrha quickly apologized for what seemed like the fifth time.

"Don't be," Winter remarked.

"Oh... alright."

"Now kids," I started with a clap of my hands, "it's time to review. Tell me why you got your ass kicked so it won't happen again. Ruby and Jaune go first."

Ruby's didn't talk and just looked at Jaune, silently telling him to go. Jaune opened his mouth, had a whole lot of nothing come out, and closed it again a few seconds later—unable to articulate his thoughts.

"Jaune, tell me how I was dealing with your team so easily."

"Well... even though we outnumbered you it wasn't really a team battle. We all fought you individually, now that I think about it, and our only teamwork was that we knew how to not screw each other up."

"No tactics," Ren clarified. Jaune threw him a grateful look.

"You've used tactics against Grimm though, haven't you?" I basically demanded. "Why is it different against me?"

"Because you can hear us," Jaune answered like it was obvious, which it was.

"Then don't speak. Learn how to do it on the fly and without the enemy knowing."

Jaune opened his mouth to speak, but anything he had fizzled out before he could say it.

"Splitting you up seemed like a good move," Ruby voiced, "since you guys are partners and all. You didn't really try to find each other though... you didn't really need any help.

"Do not be mistaken, you were not expected to win or get any closer to winning," Winter said. "Be proud that you even managed ten minutes, despite the fact we were not trying as hard as we could have."

"I didn't even have a weapon until a few seconds before the fight," I noted.

They stopped speaking, most likely thinking about what they did wrong and how they could've done better. It was expected, after all, if they ever wanted to get better.

It was the reason combat schools existed. Young people, no matter how talented, just didn't understand what worked and what didn't work outside of the walls. It was a completely different universe compared to the safety of a city or town. Grimm were ruthless, and people even more. All of them were lucky enough to be sheltered in their own way.

So many kids with just as much talent were taken by Grimm because they weren't born and raised in safety. In the war we learned that Grimm could sense emotion because it carried in our Aura. Grimm know of any decent sized concentration of Aura, but whether or not they attacked it was all up to what they sensed in the Aura—if they sensed the right emotion all bets were off.

It was why the police worked so hard to reduce crime, why the VNN ended every show with a fun little story to lighten the mood, why all the Faunus were rounded up and shipped to Menagerie, and why there were giant festivals showing off how cool the newest generation of Hunters were. It was all to make people happy, make them safe and keep the negative emotion out.

That was why the Second Great War was so rough. So many people were unhappy for too many reasons to fix.

The kids in front of me didn't even realize how good they had it. Even Blake and Ren, who came from comparatively more tragic backgrounds, still had the naivety that every happy teenager should have.

They were in Beacon, which was literally a beacon to the world. They were the brightest talents whose glow kept Vale safe from the darkness lurking in every corner.

"Joan," Winter spoke. I snapped out off my mental prattle and looked at her. "You were lost in thought," she said.

"My mind wanders," I replied, blinking in an attempt to re-associate myself with reality. "I was thinking about society."

Winter nodded, she knew that I suffered from PTSD and was prone to zone out every once in a while. I was lucky enough to be dropped through time right into the arms of people I cared about, who showed me nothing but love, but I still had lapses, especially after a fight. Combat just reminded me of the war, and the war had more bad memories than good.

I usually didn't reminisce about the trauma I suffered, but instead about intricate, and maybe a tad radical, thoughts about anything and everything. It was what it was, I suppose, and it—

"Joan," she said again.

I took a deep breath and looked at her. "Sorry," I said, "my bad. I think it's out of me. I'm focused now."

She continued staring at me for a few more seconds, and I was unable to read her expression. She folded eventually and looked a the training field, where Pyrrha was making her shield fly around and everyone else was trying to shoot it.

Well, everyone except one.

Yang had little success with her gauntlets and was using Crescent Rose with her sister—yelling and cheering loudly with every shot. Since Nora's gun fired explosives and would destroy everything Ren gave her the Storm of StormFlower. Weiss had Pyrrha's Milo in rifle form and looked visibly frustrated by her lack of aim.

And Jaune was just standing there.

"Jaune," I called as I tossed my revolver towards him. He fumbled around with it trying to catch it, and I genuinely thought he was going to shoot himself. When he got control of the weapon he nodded to me appreciatively and started to shoot, missing all five shots and emptying the cylinder in a few seconds.

I shook my head and walked towards him.

"You know, if you point your gun at the shield it might hit."

"I'm trying!"

I glanced at Winter, who was standing right behind Weiss and was helping her sister aim.

Well there goes my help.

"Don't aim at where the shield is, aim at where the shield will be," I explained. "Since it's a moving target anticipate where it will go then shoot. It's not too far away so gravity doesn't matter right now, but always take in account how fast the bullet travels, how it spins, the wind and..." I stopped myself, realizing I was repeating one of Ruby's lessons from the future. "Well, I guess you should actually hit the target once before going into specifics."

Jaune wasn't really paying attention, instead he was carefully picking his shot.

"Got it!" he yelled as he squeezed the trigger.

It didn't fire.

"It's empty."

He glared at me. "I noticed, thank you very much."

I rolled my eyes and gave him some ammo.

"You're welcome."

"You know," Jaune started as he was lining his shot up, "it really stinks to not have a weapon that can transform. I feel really... limited using Crocea Mors."

"Crocea Mors transforms."

"Yeah yeah, but I mean like _transform_ transform. Like a sword that turns into a spear that turns in a rifle kind of transform. The shield turning into a sheath is cool, but it's no hammer into a grenade launcher or scythe into a high impact sniper thingy."

"You're crazy!" I retorted. "Crocea Mors is like the greatness weapon to ever bless this planet! How can you not pray to every god you can think of and thank them for giving you such an amazing weapon?"

Crocea Mors took me through a decade of war without failing! It was the epitome of a true weapon!

"Um... Joan... Jaune's kinda right," Ruby said from beside me. "The shield isn't even round, so I don't think he can throw it properly."

"I can throw a shield like that."

"But Jaune's not you," Yang said from beside her sister. "You have the talent. Vomit Boy? Well... we like him anyways. Besides you have guns too."

"That revolver really packs a punch," Pyrrha noted.

Wait... wait... an idea was sprouting.

"Oh yes!" I started laughing. "Yes!"

"Joan?"

"Yes?"

I realized everyone was looking at me curiously.

"Oh, yeah. Well Jaune," I looked at him with a smirk, "you don't want Crocea Mors anymore?"

"I never said tha—"

"Yes you did!" I insisted. "If you don't want it, I'll gladly take it off your hands."

"Huh?"

"Yes... it's perfect! You can work with Ruby and build your own weapon and I can replace the broken Atra Mors! I like the sound of that!"

Ruby quickly nodded in agreement. "I like the sound of that too!"

Jaune glanced at the heirloom and shrugged.

I took that as a yes.

"Yes!" I yelled in excitement. "You can keep it until your weapon is done, but I'm getting it the second Ruby finishes!"

I was getting my baby back! I slept, bathed, fought... I did everything with that sword and shield! A weapon is a extension of oneself and Atra Mors was as foreign as a prosthetic! Nothing felt the way Crocea Mors felt.

"What should we make?" Jaune questioned. "I don't know what kind of weapon I want."

"We have a similar fighting style," I noted. "I was eerily similar to you when I was your age, so speaking out of my own knowledge I think you should stay with an arming sword. I'm also pretty good with a bow, which I think you can pick up too. Though that seems a little impractical compared to a gun."

"This is gonna be so fun!" Ruby exclaimed, hopping up and down in her spot. "Should I make it part shotgun or sniper? Oh! The shield can break down into chakrams! Or maybe -" she yelped as Yang grabbed her into a headlock.

"Look what you did," Yang said to me. "She's all weapon crazy now."

"Heh, my bad." I looked at my younger counterpart. "Jaune, in the past I did think about weapons that suited me if Crocea Mors ever failed, so I have some ideas that might suit you. A few involve Aura manipulation, however, so I think I should teach you what I know."

I realized I said Crocea Mors instead of Atra Mors, but nobody seemed to notice.

"Sure," Jaune agreed, almost awkwardly. "I really don't know anything about Aura, let alone manipulating it. I just thought it automatically protected me."

"Aura protects you because the body tells it to. It's why people can be surprised and knocked out, because the mind instinctively uses Aura as a defense mechanism. But it is possible to turn Aura from a shield to something much more complex."

"Can you teach me as well?" Ren asked. "I only know the bare basics and it has been very difficult learning on my own."

Ren was self taught, and he taught me everything he could. It was only natural I gave him back his knowledge.

"Of course. Anyone who wants to learn Aura Manipulation is free to join us. Actually I recommend you all join us, it'll be tougher for some of you than others, but it's a valuable tool that is criminally unused in the right way."

"You will all join him," Winter said, making the choice for them. "Joan's level of Aura manipulation is unheard of in history. Even the ancient monks of Mantle cannot utilize Aura the way he does."

"Trial by fire," I explained. "Sometimes you have to make things work when there's no other option. Besides, those monks definitely know a few things I can't even comprehend."

It was crazy talk to assume that I was the best and there were nobody better out there. In this time, I was most likely the best Aura manipulator in the world. If I stopped my training right now Cinder and Ren would catch up in a few years, which was why I always continued to train my Aura.

"That's... definitely an edge," Yang said. "Having a master of a unknown art teach us how to fight with nothing but our souls? That's not something easy to refuse."

"It sucks," I admitted. "It really, really sucks. It takes patience and dedication that I definitely didn't have when I started. I just had to suck it up and not give up."

"We still have more than an hour, might as well start now than never."

I took another deep breath.

"You guys sure? You're not going to like the first step."

"Hit us with it," Yang insisted. "I think we can all take a beating."

"Do you all agree?" I asked.

They all nodded.

"Well then... Yang, you build up the mask of a strong, independent, confident girl even though you're terrified of being alone." Her eyes widened. "You keep Ruby close because you're afraid she'll go away, that she'll leave like your mother did or die like Summer did. You're angry Raven left you, so angry you put Ruby's life on the line on your quest to find her. You're so scared at being alone you dress and act in a way that attracts as many people to you as possible, so if you ever vanished people wouldn't forget about you the way your mom forgot about you. You don't show anyone that side of you because you're too scared to cry in front of people."

Yang's jaw was dropped, and her shock was shared among everyone else there.

"Jaune," I continued, "you're useless. You have seven sisters that all show talent in multiple things yet you show talent in nothing. It's not because anyone was born any different than you were, but instead because you can't stand up for yourself. You want to be a hero so badly, but if you can't even trust in yourself why should anyone else trust in you? Pathetic. I know you thought that so many times, but why? You're pathetic because you want to be, because without somebody holding your hand you have no clue what to do and you're too afraid that you'll be wrong to try anything."

Blake's eyes widened as I looked at her.

"Blake, let's face it, you don't know everything. You act like you understand how the world works when you really don't. And when your knowledge fails you run away and try again. You ran from your parents, you ran from the White Fang—" she tried to escape but I was holding her in an instant, "—and you just tried to run from me. See what I mean? So what you're a Faunus? Do you really not trust any of them enough to know who you really are? You read books to escape reality when your life isn't as bad you make it out to be. Sure, you're a Faunus and some people don't like them. Don't act like you don't have two parents that love you to death worrying at home and a team that'll follow you on whatever 'justice' mission you'll lead them on."

She looked down, unable to look at anyone.

"Nora... you try to be the happy light in everything, but you've closed part of yourself off forever. You tried to become the definition of joy in order to pull Ren out of his depression, but you never let out your own darkness. You're always amped up and ready to go, but it's because you don't want to be ignored. You want people to notice you, to like you, but the only one you want to notice you doesn't. The only one you care about only knows the happy Nora, not the Nora that you keep locked up underneath all your eccentricities. Even though Ren has darkness you're too afraid of being the bringer of bad news to help him confront it."

She nervously glanced at Ren, which shifted my attention to him.

"Ren, you don't care. It's horrible to lose your entire village and become alone, but that doesn't mean your life is over. You don't want to make bonds because you know firsthand that they can all be taken away in an instant. Now, when you finally make one real bond, you're terrified that something will happen to her and you'll be left alone yet again. You don't even tell her about your life before the attack. You keep your darkest secrets closed up. You may be getting older, but you're still stuck in the past."

Wow this was rough. I was only half way done, yet everyone looked completely put off.

"Weiss, you don't want to be the heiress to your fathers company. You just want to be you. That's why you came to Beacon. You don't want the life of fancy balls and entitled rich people, you want to be something different. You're too scared of rejection to actually think about where you want to be, so you're content with not thinking about it at all. Just like Pyrrha you think everyone has a motive when they talk to you, like how your brother and father always do when they approach you. It's tough not having a parent's love, but if you continue trying to be a Schnee you'll never be Weiss."

Winter was staring at the back of her sister's head, deep in thought.

"Pyrrha, you're so used to people not being genuine to you that you can't be genuine to yourself. You struggle everyday to stay on the pedestal people put you on. To be perfect is to be Pyrrha Nikos to you, right? You didn't become a champion because you strive for success... you were just too scared of failing. You're scared that if you fail people won't like you, but when you succeed people only like you for the fame. You've trapped yourself in an endless cycle that will do nothing but kill you."

It did kill her.

I looked at the final student. The student which, honestly, meant the most to me.

I loved all the kids in front of me, but Ruby was the most special.

"Don't be scared, Ruby. It's strange, isn't it? The life of a Hunstman is suppose to be a grand adventure filled with crazy action and romance, yet here we are standing in a field being shit on by a cripple. You're both the best and worst person here—you're a dreamer. You think that you can fix everything. That there's a right solution and if there's not you can find it. Well Ruby, a lot of times there is no right solution. There is no right or wrong. Your gonna have to take that scythe you created and kill people with it, you do know that? The Huntress life means killing people who genuinely think they're the good guys. Ruby, there is going to be times where you're the bad guy. Can you accept that? Can you all accept the fact that you have a chance of dying?"

I glanced at all of them, but none of them were looking back.

"Do you guys accept the fact that you will go out in the field and play with death? That you can easily just stop living and leave all the people you care about alone? Do you want to hurt the people you love by dying?" All of their deaths flashed through my mind. "It'll devastate them. Why do you do this? Are you in this school because you want to? Or because you feel like you have no choice?"

It wasn't fair that they all left me. I thought we would live forever, fighting Grimm and being heroes...

But that wasn't how it was. Instead we abandoned each other one by one and forgot what good and bad meant.

Did we become heroes?

"We're done," I said, my voice weaker than I wanted.

* * *

Winter caught up to me half way to Beacon.

"They're still there," she told me. "They have yet to speak or react in a significant way."

"It's the first step. In order to manipulate their souls they need to understand who they are. They keep trying to change who they are when they need to first come to terms with themselves—the change will come naturally after that."

"I see your point in them finding out who they really are, but they're young. Both of us know that their mindsets are so different from our own. We've been there before."

"Aura manipulation," I said tiredly, "isn't something that can be learned in a week or year. The more they find their... I don't even know how to say it. The more they find themselves the more they'll progress. I'm still learning more and more every day, and if I make to fifty no doubt I'll still be learning. I know that one of the biggest hurdles is coming to term with death. When I accepted my mortality I finally started learning at an advanced level."

"They don't even know who they really are yet. It will be quite the journey."

"It will be."

We walked in silence.

"Are you... alright?" she finally asked. She was staring at the side of my face long enough that I knew she wanted to talk.

"I'm fine."

"You've seen them all perish. It must have been tough to tell them what you did... I respect that."

As much as I wanted to storm away or yell at her, I didn't. It would be wrong to get angry at her when the only person I should be angry at was myself. It wasn't fair to get angry at her over something that didn't even happen.

So much of my life wasn't even real anymore... heh.

I looked into her eyes.

"Thank you," I tried to say as sincerely as possible.

I couldn't say much more.

"When will you continue teaching them?"

"Not for a little while. I'm actually thinking about getting a mission so they have time to think to themselves," I admitted.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, we haven't had a proper council in a while and there's always work to be done."

"We have been bored, perhaps we've been going a little stir crazy."

I nodded. A little crazy indeed.

* * *

 _"We just arrived at the final safe house a few minutes ago,"_ Raven reported.

 _"From here I can monitor my network for any information about the Maidens and Cinder Fall,"_ Lisa said. _"I'm also going to ask some trusted informants for information on a Watts, Tyrian, and Hazel."  
_

 _"That's way better than the string of bartenders I was asking,"_ Qrow admitted. _"Maybe we can actually find a Maiden before they do."_

 _"Speaking of Maidens,"_ Ironwood brought up, _"Doctor, how is Amber doing?"_

Dr. Polendina was currently in Vale for a week tuning up the machinery keeping Amber alive.

"She's in a much more stable condition physically, however her Aura has yet to recover. It does not seem like she'll wake up anytime soon, but I don't think we need to scramble to find a replacement. The Semblance Transfer machine is still being modified."

"Do not worry," Ozpin told him. "We know that you need time to make such a machine. The process if going well, I assume?"

"The process of the machine is taking the Aura of one and forcing it into somebody else's body. My hypothesis is that both sides need to be completely willing in order for the process to be as effective, and humane, as possible."

"Amber being comatose proves to be an issue then."

The Doctor nodded. "Indeed it does. Keeping Amber alive does not seem possible at the moment."

There was silence as we all contemplated that.

 _"Perhaps..."_ Jacques Schnee took a breath, _"is waking her up not possible? If we can find a way to awaken her then she can oversee the process herself."_

"I agree with my father," Winter said. "Once the situation is explained Amber will most likely try to assist us to the best of her abilities."

"Maidenhood only transfers once the Maiden dies," I explained, not liking our options. "In my time, Cinder killed Amber before the machine finished transferring power, but I did notice that something was happening to Pyrrha. I'm not sure if it was Maidenhood being transferred or... or whatever."

 _"We should focus our efforts on awakening Amber,"_ Tai said. _"If the surefire way to transfer the power is a Maiden thinking about her successor, then we should have Amber voluntarily choose."_

 _"And when we have to tell her she must die?"_ Raven asked.

 _"Look,"_ Qrow cut in, _"let's not go off the rails here. I knew her the best out of anyone here, and I didn't even know her that well. She's young, but I think she still understands what being a Maiden pertains. Besides, we don't even know if we can save her yet."_

"Can we?" Ozpin asked Polendina.

Polendina stroked his chin as he thought.

"James," he spoke after a few moments, "tell Penny that I will be extending my stay here."

 _"Of course."_

"Wait!" Polendina suddenly exclaimed. "Penny! That's it!"

"Doctor, please fill us in," I spoke.

"Amber's condition stems from Cinder taking half of her Maidenhood, therefor possibly half of her Aura! I have created synthetic Aura before in my daughter!"

"Excuse me," I interrupted, "but my understanding of your androids was that they are AI that evolved enough that they are human in everything but body. That they achieve Aura once they acquire a mindset of a living creature."

"But that means it is possible to create Aura," he retorted. "At the moment I'm not sure how, but if we can create a soul then nothing is impossible!"

 _"Then we'll leave it to you,"_ Ironwood said.

Polendina never did anything like that in the future, but he was a genius beyond genius. If anyone could be both smart and crazy enough to make it happen, it was him without a doubt.

"You never disappoint Doctor," Glynda said. "Now then, we also have to rethink our plans on dealing with Adam Taurus. With Lisa no longer in the VNN we have to find a different approach."

 _"Defaming him was such a good idea,"_ Tai admitted. _"Ah well, that's a shame. If we can't finesse Adam out of the White Fang maybe we can force him out of it."  
_

 _"Are you talking the likes of assassination?"_ James asked.

 _"It's doable,"_ Raven affirmed.

"Assassinating him isn't the best plan. We want Adam completely gone, his legacy included. If we take him out when everyone worships him it'll only make the White Fang worse," I said.

 _"We have a distinct lack of Faunus in our circle,"_ Jacques observed. _"How are our informants in the White Fang?"_

 _"Nobody who really means anything,"_ Lisa said.

 _"Same,"_ Qrow agreed. _"All the higher ups won't betray anyone. Even if they won't mourn Adam they're not going to rat on him._

"Wait, I might have an idea."

The looked at me.

"Ghira Belladonna," I said, testing the name on my tongue, "he was the previous High Leader of the White Fang and Blake Belladonna's, a trusted teammate of mine in the future, father."

"He was the leader before the White Fang became as volatile as it is now," Ozpin added. "And the Chieftain of Menagerie. What a surprise it was when his daughter showed up at my front door."

"In terms of Faunus, he is likely the most powerful one we can trust. I didn't know him particularly well in the future, but I know he dislikes the new direction Khan has taken the White Fang. I also know he really doesn't like Adam."

 _"Then we should have a conversation with him,"_ Qrow said. _"Kid, you know him the best so you should go talk to him. I'm in Vacuo, so I'm out."_

Glynda looked through her Scroll. "Of all our field agents the closest to Menagerie are you two," she spoke to Winter and I, "Raven and Tai are in Draco at the moment."

 _"It's probably for the best if Raven took Joan there,"_ Tai said. _"No offense, Winter, but Faunus have a preconceived notion of Schnee that we can't ignore. People can discredit Ghira if he allows a Schnee into his home."_

Winter didn't look happy, but she was smart and nodded reluctantly.

"That is literally across the entire Remnant. Raven, are you good to do that?" I asked.

 _"It won't be a particularly fast trip, but I am capable."_

* * *

 **Authors note: IN chapter 4 Blake said her family was dead, don't worry I'll explain it next chapter.**

 **Anyways** **, more cards are being added to the deck. Raven and Lisa are part of the team, so expect them more in the future, Raven especially because her portal thing is so damn convenient.**

 **Winter still doesn't know she's engaged.**

 **Also, it bothers me whenever I read a story and there's a long section of a bunch of characters being dressed down. Which I did do in this chapter. If it's a little... out of tune then please bear with it.**

 **Or is it bare with it? Speaking of spelling I read this chapter twice, but I'm pretty tired. I'll most likely run through this chapter again and correct any more mistakes in a few days.**

 **My guess is that the next chapter will be done in two weeks, maybe a week if I get really into it.**

 **Chapter titles: it occured to me that I never mentioned where I get the titles of my chapters from. I doubt anyone really cares, but I feel like I should list them for the sake of the novels I based them off. They don't really affect the story so feel free to skip the list if you don't care.**

 **chapter 1: The History of Jaune Arc, a Foundling / The _History of Tom Jones, a Foundling_**

 **2: Brave Old World / _Brave New World_**

 **3: Tale of One City / _The Tale of Two Cities_**

 **4: Chronicles of Joan: the Cat, the Warrior and the Home / _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_**

 **5: Joan's Adventures in Beacon / _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_**

 **6: Lord of the News / _Lord of the Flies_**

 **7: The Catcher in the Rye-ven / _The Catcher in the Rye_**

 **8: Fahrenheit 1381 / Fahrenheit 451 (1381 is the temperature bone melts at according to the internet)**

 **9: Joan the Obscure / _Jude The Obscure_**

 **No omake in this chapter, but I'll think of one for chapter ten.**

 **Until then.**


	10. Under the Menagerie Sun

"Hey snow ange—" Jaune yelped audible as he realized it wasn't Weiss he was talking to, but Winter. He only saw the distinguishable white hair and automatically assumed it was the younger Schnee. He gulped as Winter's frigid glare locked onto him as she turned around.

"Arc," she said simply.

"Uhh... hi Mrs... I mean Miss Schnee! How are you on this fine afternoon?"

Winter scrutinized his very soul with her gaze. Jaune could feel his internal temperature drop just by the ice in her blue eyes... he could feel the frostbite in his veins by how intense her gaze was.

"I am not a fan of you," she admitted, making him wilt, "yet..."

He perked up. Yet what? He wondered.

"Never mind, you are a disappointment," she said. "Leave me, I have things to do."

Jaune wanted to call out the fact that she was standing in the middle of the hallway literally watching birds nest outside the window. If the term bored could be portrayed in a single picture, it would be her.

But Winter was the scariest thing he'd even seen in his life, and he fought a deathstalker in initiation. Jaune just walked away because he liked having a functional body and wanted to keep it that way.

Winter Schnee was terrifying. Enough said.

* * *

 **Rewrite the History Books**

* * *

 _"If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery–isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is."_

 _"You say don't even start if I'm not prepared... but I already started."_

 _His cybernetic riddled leader gave him a rare smile. "Then you have to go all the way whether you like it or not."_

 _"The choice isn't even mine to make," he said, somewhat bitter. He was made General without his own input, the Commander just did it._

 _"No, it was mine," the robotic man admitted, "and I made that choice because no one else can give it everything except you."_

 _Commander Ironwood died minutes later, and General Arc assumed his position._

* * *

 **Under the Menagerie Sun**

* * *

I could only stare in... not shock, but awe as Raven downed her fifth cup of the blackest coffee I've ever seen. Teleporting from one corner of the map to another wasn't anything that seemed easy, but it just didn't seam healthy to consume so much caffeine so quickly.

We were taking a break in a coffee shop in Mistral. It was a lot nicer than the darker bars her and her brother seemed to enjoy so much, which was a nice change in atmosphere. Raven, being Raven, stood out a lot compared to everyone else around us, but she obviously didn't give a damn.

"Joan," Raven called as she signaled the waiter to fill her cup again.

"Yeah?" I responded as I sipped my tea (Ren was right, tea was a nice change in pace).

"You are quite the Aura manipulator, are you not?"

I rose an eyebrow. "Where did you hear that from? That's not something many people know. In fact, only a handful of people knew until this afternoon..." It hit me and I chuckled.

"What?" she demanded.

"You were watching us train, weren't you?"

She just looked at me with the trademark 'I'll kill you' look that she was a master of.

"Right?"

The look didn't falter.

"You probably heard me verbally assault your daughter. Did you hear Ruby's too?"

"You started with Yang and ended with Ruby, so I had to sit through all of the children I don't care about," she admitted. "Now will you answer my question?"

At least Raven stalked her daughter because she cared. Maybe it was a parental instinct thing I didn't understand.

I laughed again. "You already know, but I'll humor you. I guess I'm the best one you can find."

"I'm working on a project," she told me, "one that required both my creation of portals and inanimate objects."

"Please clarify."

"I want to find a way to imbue my powers into an object, so if someone other than me needs a portal they can create one. Actually making it has proven difficult with little progress—practically none."

I sipped my tea. So Raven wanted to imbue her Aura into an object and make a portable warp point that anyone could use...

"Even with my knowledge of Aura Manipulation, I'm not completely sure if that's possible," I admitted. "But don't assume it's impossible. I guarantee if we spend some time together and experiment we can create such a thing, but at the moment I have a few other ideas. Ideas that could be working within a month."

She took a massive gulp of her coffee.

"You see," I started, "even if your Aura is in, say, a stone and I had it. I don't know how to make a portal, that's your gig. Even if I could manipulate your Aura I have no clue to how visualize an area and make a tear in the dimension—you're the one whose spent years perfecting that, not me. However, we could imbue the stone with your Aura and then break it, and once it breaks it's possible that you can sense it. I'm not sure the specifics of your ability, but if you could suddenly sense your Aura in Vacuo I think you can create a portal to that exact spot."

"To be able to feel my Aura from so far away..."

"Yeah, sounds crazy. I'm basing it off the stories of a mom feeling the Aura of her Hunstman son die and she suddenly collapses even though they're continents apart. If those are to be believed, and I think they should be, then Aura does stay somewhat linked despite distance. If a mom can sense her child, then you should be able to sense yourself with the proper training. You know, the fact that our souls are so understudied is really disappointing."

Raven was obviously thinking very deeply.

"So what do you think?" I asked after giving her a few minutes.

"It sounds possible."

"Really?" I was just talking what I thought, and a lot times it didn't make any sense.

"Whenever Yang, or even anyone I care about, is in a light threatening situation I sometimes get a feeling. I know what and where it will happen and can go there to assist. Call it foresight, but with Yang especially I can feel her fear..." she took a breath, "I think that souls of loved ones can be linked, so you're theory holds weight."

"Yeah, I've felt it millions of times before, but I always just assumed it was my Semblance. Since I'm linked with everyone who trusts me... like every time one of my soldiers died I felt a part of me die with them. It doesn't matter who it is, it sucks every time." Especially before battle, I could always feel the emotion of my men coursing through me.

She nodded and finished another cup of coffee.

"I am finished," she said. "Six cups should be enough to take us to Menagerie and possibly back."

"Possibly?"

"We might have to take a boat back or end up warping to the middle of the sea."

* * *

Luckily, Raven's coffee powered Semblance managed to get the both of us to Menagerie. We ended up a mile away from the inhabited part, but it was a pretty small margin of error comparatively.

Menagerie was a pretty interesting place to me. In the war it was mentioned hundreds of times, but I only had the time to visit it once before Amaterasu burned it all to the ground.

The first thing I really noticed when we stumbled onto society was how lively it was. Without the burden of war or a sea of flames it was a lot... nicer than Blake ever described it as. Blake did always have a thing for being over dramatic though. The people looked content with their lives.

Blake was right when she mentioned how crowded it was. It felt like there were more people than central Vale on a holiday, and most of the people weren't tourists trying to sight see. All of these people were living as honest of lives as they could.

Raven wasn't much for small talk—or any talk really—and walked really fast. So fast I actually had troubles keeping up with her, so fast that people were noticing her pushing through the crowds.

The giant sword was pretty noticeable, but at least she took her mask off (I had to spend a few minutes convincing her she should). Even though she wasn't trying to, Raven just attracted attention in her own way. The only way to describe it was Raven-like—dark, menacing and brooding.

There no humans around, so we stood out like sore thumbs. A lot of people seemed to pick up on how we were human, but Raven was fast enough that we would vanished into another crowd before anyone could act. Maybe that was why she walked so fast...

"Raven," I finally called as we made our third loop through the main market.

She turned and looked at me.

"Do you know where Ghira's house is?"

She shook her head.

I sighed. I should not have let the girl who was just doing non-stop missions and consumed six coffees lead the way.

"Do you want me to lead?" I asked.

"No."

I stared, confused.

"I do not want you to lead," she clarified, "but we have no other choice if we want to find Ghira, so you can lead."

We were definitely taking a boat back, I decided, Ozpin be dammed.

"Now I remember why I never started drinking coffee and why I never stopped getting a full nights sleep. How long has it been since you've slept—" I stopped as someone ran into me.

It wasn't anything big or dangerous, but rather a small kid. She was a Faunus, of course, and looked to be of some sort of feline alignment. At first glance she looked a lot like Blake would if she was a kid—except with blonde hair, green eyes, and a face that didn't look like it never smiled.

"Sorry, my bad," I apologized even though she was the cause.

"It's fine mister!" she replied cheerfully as she held her arms behind her back. Her innocent smile made her look completely harmless, which she probably was.

"And unless you want the five lien I have left," I added, "my wallet is basically empty."

Her smile turned to a devious smirk as she revealed my wallet from behind her back. "It's still a nice wallet," she said cheekily, "one hundred lien easily."

"She's right," Raven agreed, making me roll my eyes.

"Well I just got it a few days ago for a hundred fifty, so give it back or try to sell it for two hundred instead." As cute as the girl was, I wasn't trying to waste my hard earned paycheck.

"Are you two humans?" the girl suddenly asked. I took a second to glance at Raven, who was unresponsive.

"We are," I said.

"I've never seen any humans before," she noted in wonder.

"So you've never left Menagerie?" I mimicked her nod. "Well, if you ever do travel elsewhere when you're older you'll see a lot more of us. Humans are surprisingly common outside of this island."

"Why is that? Do you guys have any traits like us? You don't have any ears or claws or tails."

"We're not special at all. All humans are usually the exact same genetically, we don't have any cool traits that can help us."

"Not even seeing in the dark?" she asked, perplexed at the mere thought.

"Not even that. It sucks."

"I'm glad I'm a Faunus," she decided as the started to run away. "Bye!"

I waved. If the edge-queen that was teenage Blake was here she'd probably have to check all four of her ears. Even in my entire twenty eight years I rarely heard any Faunus say they were glad to be a Faunus. They always got the short end of the stick—whether it was racism or Cinder's genocidal plague.

Good for her. Hopefully she would continue thinking the way she did.

"The girl made you forget about your wallet," Raven added as she started to walk away.

Damn it.

* * *

When the door to their rather nice house opened, it still shocked me how similar Blake looked to her mother. In fact, Blake's mother looked more like Blake from the future than the one currently sitting in Beacon. To say that Kali Belladonna could pass for her mid thirties was an understatement.

"Hello Mrs. Belladonna," I greeted with a respectful tilt of my head, "my name is Joan Arc and this is my associate Raven Branwen." Raven nodded as well..

She eyed the two of us suspiciously for a few seconds. "A pleasure," she said, but I doubted the integrity. "You've come here for a reason, and I assume the reason is to talk to my husband."

"Preferably," I admitted.

"Well he is busy," she said and started closing the door.

Right as it closed a resounding "Wait!" came from inside the home.

"Don't worry, Kali, I will humor these guests," Ghira said as he reopened the door, revealing his massive form. He towered over all of us, his golden eyes holding no warmth as he scrutinized our forms. "Two humans on Menagerie, not the most common of occurrences."

"We came to speak to you," I told him.

"I see," he didn't look impressed, "and why should I let you into my home?"

"Because we come with information of the greatest regards," Raven said. Ghira's brow raised, but he didn't budge from his position.

"From?"

"Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy," I spoke. "He has some information that he, and the rest of our group, would like you to hear." My face had a distasteful expression. "Though please don't assume we're an evil shadow group of rich people... we're not evil."

His look didn't falter.

"I'm not interested," he said as he shut the door.

I stared at the closed door.

"Just like his daughter," I muttered as we turned around and walked away.

* * *

They were almost perfect assassins, I'd give them that. I would have never known I'd died if they didn't make the ever so slightest of mistakes that wasn't even much of a mistake.

I was sleeping in a room we had managed to find. There was no way Raven and I were going to stay at any of Menagerie's nicer hotels (which compared to Vale or Atlas was nothing) since the last thing we wanted to do in Menagerie was be as human as possible. Instead we found a rather nice old lady who happened to have two open bedrooms and promised us she'd make us food in the morning.

She sold it pretty well. Even Raven didn't expect anything.

Whatever time it was I didn't know—I was sleeping deep. In fact, I was having a pretty nice dream until I felt the slightest touch of Aura. It was being manipulated, not in rest. Someone close to me was dropping their Aura levels down from minuscule to practically nonexistent.

My eyes didn't snap open nor did my breathing hitch. My training held firm and the only indication I was awake was my body shifting slightly underneath the covers. Yet I was as far away from my dreams as possible.

Barely, just barely, I could hear someone exhale while the Aura level dropped. Someone was trying to calm their nerves, it seems.

Being extremely Aura sensitive, it was easy to discover an entire, despite being well hidden, person in the same room as I was. Just from the small flash of Aura I could tell so much.

Young. Focused. Nervous. Ready. Those were the vibes it was giving out.

I licked my lips, they were dry. Wherever the Aura was I couldn't trace it, whoever it was had either amazing stealth skills or a killer Semblance. Either way, a potential assassin was within ten feet of me—I knew it.

The assassin wasn't planning on lingering, most good ones didn't. A definite kill shot would be slitting my throat or severing my aorta. Slicing any of the vessels leading to my heart would be fatal as well. A liver shot I might be able to survive, but my liver was definitely something I wanted fully functional.

There was a creak in the room.

I quickly rolled off the bed and avoided a massive knife from going straight into my eye. The assassin reacted fast and tore the blade out my pillow, slicing feathers into the air.

There was a feminine yelp as I tackled the assassin. We rolled into a wall and she kicked me off. I couldn't see, but I managed to duck underneath another blade with only the moonlight to help me.

She seemed to notice I was unarmed and charged me with what looked like a dagger. I grabbed a lamp and threw it at her, she sliced it out of the air, but it distracted her enough for me to close the distance between us.

I got a clean punch straight to the side of her head, her dagger flew into the air as she landed on my bed.

I grabbed it and threw it at her, but she jumped behind the other side of the bed.

Suddenly a man flew threw the wall and onto the floor in front of me. His White Fang mask broke as he landed face first and groaned, only barely missing the bed. I looked to my side and saw Raven walking in her room holding another man by the throat.

I checked behind the bed, the assassin I was fighting was gone.

"Damn," I murmurer, she was good, and I didn't want a good assassin out there trying for me. "Raven," I called as she choked her assassin out, "are you alright? Actually you seem to have that under control."

Raven cocked her arm back and threw the assassin threw her window and into the street below. I winced as I heard a loud crash—bastard hit something hard.

"We were targeted," Raven said like it wasn't completely obvious.

I sighed deeply. "Yeah, we were. We should leave this place," I suggested, "my guess is that our friendly landlord isn't as friendly."

Hopping into the portal she created, we ended up at the outskirts of Menagerie. Raven angrily paced back and forth in the foliage while I inspected the dagger the assassin left, trying to find any clues.

We couldn't of interrogated the one assassin left, as that would be loud and cause a commotion. The last thing we wanted on Menagerie was someone stumbling in on two humans interrogating a Faunus. If the assassin we left behind was as good as the one who targeted me, then he wouldn't talk easily.

"A stiletto," I noted, running my finger down the flat of the long blade. After the cross guard the blade was long and slender, reaching to about eight inches and a needle like point. It was designed for stabbing, and the final two inches of the blade was a lightening Dust crystal, which made it's piercing power beyond deadly. "A nasty piece of work. I'm glad she didn't poke me with it."

"Quite," a voice agreed, both Raven and I whipped around to see Ghira standing there. How a man of his size managed to sneak up on us was... well Blake must have gotten it from somewhere.

"Fancy seeing you here," I greeted.

Ghira crossed his arms and gestured to his right with a tilt of his head. "It's strange to sense such a concentration of Aura in my backyard this late in night. I got a new fence with the intent of keeping things out."

"Should've made it bigger," I said dryly as I dropped the stiletto, it sunk into the ground a few inches.

Raven wordlessly threw a White fang mask at Ghira—I didn't even realize she had it.

Ghira stared at it for a while before finally meeting our eyes.

"Would you like some tea?"

* * *

"I've done well to dismiss and avoid rumors," Ghira admitted with a frown, his steaming cup of tea laying untouched in front of him. His wife nodded in agreement from beside him. "Especially in Menagerie, the White Fang are involved in a lot of charitable acts. They give a lot of people hope. They make people feel safe. Keeps the Grimm away, I'll tell you that."

"But have you heard of their actions outside of Menagerie?" I asked, rubbing my tired eyes. "Vale and Atlas in particular," I added.

"Those are far," he said, "in Menagerie people have other priorities than the issues of other countries."

"Nothing at all?" That was astonishing. Some of the attacks the White Fang staged at Atlas were massive everywhere. They made international news all the time, the likes of the Barrage Squad or Adam Taurus especially showing up on the VNN and other networks.

"I must admit... as Chieftan I know, but the people do not." By the look on his face and tone of his voice it was obvious Ghira had a heavy heart. "The people in power here, those who can affect this countries hearing and vision, are all friends of the White Fang. I assumed they were friends with the charitable and friendly Fang, but I'm starting to see otherwise."

It was hard for him. I used to be a leader, so I could understand. Ghira was Menagerie's Chieftan—he needed to be in the loop with everything involving the island. If such an integral part of the society he was leading was evil...

"How are we going to deal with this?" Kali voiced my exact thoughts.

I wasn't going to intrude and try to offer my help just yet, and Raven was much for any talking, so we sat politely and sipped our tea while Ghira stared at his wife.

"Carefully," he finally said.

We all sat in silence, pondering deeply.

"We need help," Ghira caved, looking at us. "You are allied with Ozpin? I could... we could use some of his wisdom."

I didn't outwardly show it, but I was impressed. Ghira was a man of great pride, it was as easy to notice as his height. He was a truly great leader if he was asking for help, because that meant he wasn't trying to mess up—he really wanted to do good for his people.

"Trust me," I offered, "if you hear us out not only Ozpin will come to your assistance. Political power is not something we lack."

"Just Faunus affairs," he guessed.

I smirked, exactly.

"Now that we're on the same page, we can truly get started." The same page was that we both needed something from each other, and were willing to cooperate to get it.

Raven finished her tea and finally spoke, "We are a small group of people that have been fighting a hidden war in order to protect the Remnant. The basis of the war is a secret with only a handful of people knowing why, and that number is growing as we must get more powerful. That's the reason we have come to speak to you, we would like to ask for your assistance in protecting the innocent."

Kali's ears perked as she took in the information. Ghira had a more stoic reaction that his wife, crossing his arms across his broad chest and frowning slightly, his yellow eyes serious.

"Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon is apart of a secret war," he pondered, "perhaps I shall partake as well, if you will give me a reason."

"Do you recall the fairy tale of the four maidens?" I asked. I knew they must have, as Blake mentioned in the future that her parents had read her a lot of fairy tales.

They both nodded.

I took a sip of my tea, which was all the confirmation they needed.

"Four people with incredible powers... is the old man from the tale a factor as well?"

"Not particularly, no."

"That's probably for the best. Why tell us that the tale is real?"

"As you can know, Maiden's have incredible power that transcend whatever science we know. People want power. People would do anything to get power. There are bad people that want that power to do bad things, and they'll do anything to get it," I explained. "Over the years the war between us, the protectors who keep the Maiden's safe, and our opposition have become a lot like a chess game. It's more than just a bloodbath now—both groups are smart."

"And you wish to add a Faunus piece to your board, increase your reach," Kali said, hitting the nail on the head.

"Well, it's become more than just a traditional chess game now," I admitted. "We've been aggressively adding more and more pieces, changing the fundamental rules of pieces and..." I stopped myself from going on a hard to follow tangent. "The rules are more like Xiangqi or Janggi," I told them, referring to a more eastern variants of chess in order to help them, "but I personally believe we're making our own game."

Ghira nodded sagely, understanding my words.

"Ozpin is your general then?"

I nodded. "I am a soldier and Raven is more attuned to a chariot or a cannon."

"You want me as a piece, so tell me why."

"Adam Taurus must die," I said simply.

Kali gasped.

"He—" Ghira started, but I cut him off.

"—is not mentoring Blake," I told them. "She defected from the Fang and is now studying at Beacon. She has outstanding grades and is on a team of highly promising and trustful students."

If they didn't want to talk before, they definitely wanted to now.

* * *

Negotiations didn't particularly fall in my lap, but I was content with what we had accomplished. Ghira Belladonna was now willing to lend us assistance, as long as we helped him just as much as we wanted him to help us.

He wanted Menagerie to become more than an island of outcasts. His sights were on the grand scheme of things, and we agreed to help fulfill his vision of turning Menagerie into a global power.

The island had little fertile land, with most of it being desert, and Ghira had little interest in making use of the plentiful Dust reserves scattered around the brutal sands. Instead, he was trying to create a powerful economy of trade that would keep Menagerie steady for years into the future.

I admired that.

I promised to let Ghira get into contact with people like Ironwood or Daddy Schnee for his agenda, in return he would use whatever contacts and information he had to help us. From what I saw, the more powerful Menagerie became the more powerful Ghira became as Chieftan, and the more powerful Ghira became... it'll just make my job easier in the long run.

Of course, it would take years for Ghira and Kali to turn Menagerie into anything more than just... well... Menagerie.

The boat hit a larger than average wave and I almost vomited. Stupid sea sickness. Raven had basically given me the middle finger and returned to her tribe, saying she's been gone too long. It took me for a loop, since I thought Raven had left the life of banditry in order to help us.

Ah well, I couldn't expect her of all people to suddenly change. I had enough experience with her daughter's stubbornness to know that it had to come from somewhere. And because of that I was now on a boat without my Scroll, weapon and money having to traverse my way back to Vale.

How wonderful! So wonderful I wanted to punch a wall.

Maybe I was being a little sour. The salty smell of the sea was calming compared to the scent of a battlefield, it made me relax. The warmness of the sun even made me forget about about the entire ship rocking if I focused on it enough.

I was leaning against the railing staring at the waves. It was peaceful. Kinda like a vacation.

"We got a big one!" I heard the captain yell, making my head turn curiously. My head snapped back towards the ocean as a giant Grimm monster erupted from the waves, roaring violently. "Battle stations!" the captain ordered.

I sighed as Aura surrounded my entire body, burning like an inferno. Vacation indeed.

* * *

 **Authors note: The italicized excerpt is based of the novel _Factotum_ , and the chapter title is based of the book _Under the Tuscan Sun._ Also this chapter might be a bit rougher than usual, I blame being tired.**

* * *

 **Omake:** **Ruby Rose part 1**

 **Ten years in the future**

Luckily for her, the medicine did relieve her of the blaring headache. Which meant she now had zero excuses for not showing up. She was going to get into a lot of trouble, she knew it.

"Who cares?" she muttered to herself. "It's not like they're gonna catch me."

She wasn't planning on running away far, or for long. Just long enough and far enough that they wouldn't dare invite her to another stupid meeting that she didn't want to go to ever again.

"Whose not gonna catch you?"

She jumped at the gentle voice behind her.

"Velvet, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

Velvet rolled her eyes (where did she get that attitude from?). "I was sent by the—"

"Council... yes yes I get it. Stupid council knows I'll run from Cardin, but not you."

"It was Cardin's idea."

"He's gonna get pranked so hard. Don't tell him that."

"I won't," Velvet promised, "but please come to you're meeting, Supreme Leader."

"And as Supreme Leader I say no!"

"Ruby," Velvet pleaded, "you're suppose to be leading the Remnant... act like it."

Ruby Rose, Supreme Leader of the reformed Remnant, stuck her tongue out.

"Ruby..."

"I didn't choose this job!" she yelled, knowing how childish she was being and not feeling any remorse about it.

"But they all chose you." Velvet was one of the few who still remembered that Ruby Rose _wasn't_ a divine warrior that was created to slay evil, but a sugar addicted weapon geek with a short attention span.

Velvet was one of the four who voted for Cardin—the only others being Ruby, Cardin, and Cardin's mom. Other than that star studded cast everyone else decided she was a good pick for whatever gods forsaken reason.

Ruby groaned loudly. "This sucks! I don't want to be a queen and reshape the Remnant—I want to watch TV and eat cookies instead!"

"Too bad. The Remnant needs to be reshaped, we've all decided, and who is better than you? You're the strongest person alive by a long shot. Cardin is the closest, but he's still..." Velvet trailed off.

"Cardin?" Ruby supplied.

"Sometimes I swear I'm the only one who can get through his thick skull..."

"Cause he's scared of you."

"I'm not scary..."

Ruby thought otherwise. Velvet could be very, _very_ scary.

"I'm just saying," the ultra-Maiden argued, "Cardin should be in charge because he was Jaune's second in command. He has way more rank over me to begin with."

"He _had_ more rank. You're the Grand Leader now."

Ruby groaned again. "Jaune's used to being called things like that—dummy had to bail when the action ended."

Commander Arc's demise was a tragedy felt by the entire Remnant. Since Cinder destroyed most of the governing body, the army had to become more than just fighters. Jaune was already in the Supreme Leader position, just under a different name, before he died.

Ruby still didn't believe it—there wasn't any body and until she saw one she still had hope. Jaune had more Aura than all of them combined. Cinder's explosive end, while powerful, just wasn't enough to eradicate Jaune's entire body. He survived much bigger explosions before.

He created much bigger explosions before.

She called shenanigans.

"Aren't Maidens suppose to be reclusive and all that?" she pondered out loud. "I'm all four Maidens," she added, "so I need to be extra hidden from people for my own safety... yeah, that's it!"

"That's exactly the point though," Velvet argued, "you have the power of all four Maidens. Nobody can beat you."

"You beat me in a staring contest the other day."

"An actual rabbit can beat you in a stari—" Velvet rolled her eyes and huffed, "—the point is nobody can beat you in a _fight_. You got elected for this position, so take one for the team and sit through the boring meetings. Besides, you always doze off and I take notes for you anyways."

Ruby only wished she knew Velvet when there was homework to be done... she might have actually turned in assignments for once.

She blinked and noticed Velvet was still in front of her, the Faunus tapping her foot as she waited. Velvet was starting to get annoyed, which made all of Ruby's danger senses go off as she struggled to find an excuse.

"I uhh.. Velvet..."

"What?"

"It's just that... that... I need to—" whatever excuse she had was dying in her throat.

"Need to?"

"I need to... practice my Maiden powers! Yeah! I have absolutely no time to practice these powers with all the stupid meetings and parties! How am I suppose to be in control of these awesome powers if I can't even use them properly?"

Velvet sighed and shook her head. "They'll believe that," she admitted. "I'll go and tell them your excuse, but you have to be practicing, alright?" The dangerous glint in Velvet's eyes made Ruby nod her head frantically.

"I'll practice! I swear!"

Velvet left, leaving Ruby all alone.

The final member of RWBY raised her hand, watching as pure energy swirled around it.

"I'm a silver eyed Maiden of all four seasons," she muttered, her eyes starting to glow, "what a mess I call my life. All the power in the world yet I still can't turn back time and fix my life..." she sighed deeply, balling her hand into a fist and feeling the power course through her veins.

All this power... it made her wonder.

"Is nothing out of the realm of possibility for me?" she pondered out loud. "I wonder what I can really do with infinite power..."


End file.
